Two potbellied pigs turned up on Hendricks Street, on Detroit's east side, in early September. They had wandered over from a nearby park.
The neighbors were charmed. The pigs let people pet them. Somebody caught the female and then let her go again.
The male settled in under a pine tree in front of Chris Lompra's house. Lompra, who has lived on that street for 26 years, started leaving out produce and dog kibble. "Every morning he'd come and talk to me, right at my step," he said.
Then everyone started trying to catch him, and he turned shy. Police chased him for hours over a weekend and came up empty. Detroit Animal Care and Control worked at it for more than an hour before cornering him in a bush in Lompra's front yard.
He squealed the whole way to the truck, tucked under an officer's arm. Lompra ran over to say goodbye.
The city said he would go to a farm or a sanctuary. The female is still out there.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
