DETROIT – Residents on Hendricks Street on Detroit’s east side said they spent days trying to figure out what to do with two lost pigs that made themselves at home in their neighborhood.
On Monday, neighbors said they came across a male and female pig and started recording as the animals let them pet them.
“A couple of days ago, we saw two pigs run up on us in the neighborhood, and we just started video recording, and they let us rub them and pet them,” said Johnnie Beals.
Some neighbors managed to catch the female pig but later released her, residents said.
The male remained in the area, where Christopher Lompra began leaving food and water for him under a tree near his home.
“Every morning he’d come and talk to me, right at my step, oink, oink, oink,” Lompra said.
Residents said they were unsure who to call for help. Neighbors said they contacted some animal control services but were told they would have to pay to have the pigs removed.
On Wednesday, neighbors contacted Local 4 for help.
We reached out to the city, and Detroit Animal Care and Control came to the neighborhood.
The rescue took more than an hour. The pig jumped and swerved as crews tried to catch him.
Each time they got close, he squealed and ran away.
He eventually darted into some bushes in front of Lompra’s house. With nowhere else to go, animal control officers caught him and took him away.
The pig did not leave quietly, squealing as officers loaded him up.
“I had to run up and say goodbye to him,” Lompra said.
A spokesperson for the General Services Department said the pig will be transported out of the city and transferred to a rescue, farm, or animal sanctuary.
