LEXINGTON — This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home … and two pot-bellied pigs went wee, wee, wee, all the way to a new home–a farm just south of Lexington. The critters were removed from a Mansfield home last Friday.
Two black pot-bellied pigs by the names, Hugh Hogner and Petunia Piggy Hogner, are now in the care of the Magistro family. The pigs were previously kept on a concrete floor with no bedding or straw in a house on Chestnut Street. Pigs are prohibited in city limits.
Bobbi Magistro contacted the Humane Society of Richland County and said she’d be willing to foster the pigs, having had experience with raising swine.
She and her husband, Corbin, and children, Corbin, Paiton and Maddie, got to work on cleaning out their barn, located just behind their house, to make room for the pigs. Bobbi said they recently purchased the property in June and had been using the barn for storage.
“We are fostering them (the pigs) for now with a possibility of adoption,” she said.
The pigs had not been properly taken care of and had scars all over their bodies.
“They were so excited for the straw,” Bobbi said. “I don’t think they’ve ever seen straw in their life because they kept throwing it up in the air and playing with it.”
Local businesses, including Kroger Marketplace, Wayne’s Country Market, Sam’s Club and Tractor Supply Company donated various goods (produce, bedding and grain) for the pigs.
Bobbi guessed they’re a couple years old and believes the female is pregnant.
Paiton and Maddie fed the pigs a banana from their hands.
“He’s very loving,” Bobbi said of the male.
“I think she’s a little bit more skittish, but she’s a bully anyway, like if he tries to get in the food pan with her, she goes over and smacks him in the head and nudges him.
“She is definitely the boss.”
The pigs acted like dogs, wagging their tails in glee and following people around at their heels.
“I think with a little bit of work we’ll be able to put a harness on them and walk them,” Bobbi said. “They’re very trainable.”
Missy Houghton of the humane society is glad to see the pigs in a safe home, especially since the shelter isn’t equipped to house pigs on a long-term basis, she said.
“It’s good to see that they’re free to roam and root around,” she said.
Also discovered at the Chestnut home last Friday were two dogs — one was released to a family member and the other one (a mutt) was taken to the humane society. Houghton said the mutt was chained outside with no available water.
“He was emaciated,” she said.
It’s going to take some time to get the dog’s weight back up to normal, but he appears to be doing better now that he’s been given some good, quality food, Houghton said.
There were also five snakes, a corn snake and four pythons — one of which is estimated to be 10-feet long — and one Nile monitor lizard found at the house.
The humane society is currently keeping the snakes and lizard at the shelter until a court decides whether or not the owner — who has been issued a summons for animal cruelty and child endangering — is allowed to have them back.
If the owner is not permitted to retrieve the reptiles, they will be sent to a reptile rescue center, Houghton said. This is past practice, according to Houghton, who said the rescue center would be better equipped to take care of them than the shelter.
If the owner is not authorized to regain possession of the mutt, the dog will be available for adoption at the humane society.
