Vt. town says woman's pet house pigs must go
ESSEX, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont woman considers her pigs to be pets, but town officials say they're farm animals and have no business living in a residential neighborhood.
The zoning board in Essex has given Florence Gruber and Alan Tsefrekas until Jan. 22 to remove an estimated 30 to 40 miniature potbellied pigs from their home.
Gruber told the board Thursday that her pigs use litter boxes and that the adult animals weigh 50 to 100 pounds. She's given them names like Larry, Nadia, Olive and Snow White Sleepy Girl.
The Burlington Free Press reports that neighbors told the board that the pigs must go.
Gruber says the pigs are up for adoption.
The zoning board in Essex has given Florence Gruber and Alan Tsefrekas until Jan. 22 to remove an estimated 30 to 40 miniature potbellied pigs from their home.
Gruber told the board Thursday that her pigs use litter boxes and that the adult animals weigh 50 to 100 pounds. She's given them names like Larry, Nadia, Olive and Snow White Sleepy Girl.
The Burlington Free Press reports that neighbors told the board that the pigs must go.
Gruber says the pigs are up for adoption.
Okay, I am all about having pets. Heck, even a Potbellied Pig seems okay to me, but thirty or forty "PET" pigs?
 Sorry, not going for it. Here is a prime example of reasonable people who own a Potbellied Pig for a pet that are going to be deprived of a beloved animal because of problems created by somebody else, not to mention what happens to the pigs. This hoarder is no different from a cat or dog hoarder, and there is no place in town and most likely anyplace else for this behavior, save a rescue shelter.