The Dangerous Allure Of The Pot Bellied Pig

Reading this story, about two stray pot-bellied pigs that wreaked havoc in an Idaho town, reminded me of the sad situation with respect to these animals that currently exists on Vancouver Island and the lower mainland of British Columbia.

Basically, the Vietnamese Pot-Belly became hugely trendy in these areas during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Great claims were made for their intelligence, their friendliness, and how they were more like a "member of the family" than a mere pet. What people did not understand was that, despite their diminutive size, they ate like pigs. Nowadays you can't give the damn things away, and in fact there exist pig adoption agencies for handling unwanted animals.

And while in some cases pig-owners adapted to the animals' requirements, or turned them over to a shelter, in too many cases they became pork steaks or, worse, were set free in the forests beyond town. As a result bands of feral pigs now roam the West Coast foothills, and are known to descend at night into the cities and terrorize the local pet population. Occasionally young children disappear, and when local search parties are formed these invariably find nothing, for the pigs have grown cunning from their time in the wild, and know the ways of men from their time in captivity. There are even rumours of children being captured and adopted into the pot-bellied nation, to be seen years later running around naked, wallowing in slop, and picking through garbage.

(See: the pig-boy of Naden Harbor).

Best to get a poodle, in other words.