Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506260051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Emma Saunders of Vinton loves her three little pigs. She raised them from piglets and considers them a part of the family.
Last week, the big bad wolf came knocking on her door.
In Vinton, Saunders' Vietnamese potbellied pigs are considered livestock, and it's illegal to keep them in a residential community. So an animal control officer told her she would have to find another home for them.
But Saunders isn't about to give them up that easy, she said.
Although an animal control officer said she has until Friday to find another home for the pigs, she is willing to "raise hell and high water" to save her pigs.
On Friday, she submitted three letters - to Vinton's mayor, the town manager and Town Council - requesting that an amendment be made to classify potbellied pigs as pets.
No response has been given by council, which would vote on any such amendment. Town Clerk Carolyn Ross said the earliest that the issue could be addressed is Wednesday, council's next formal meeting.
Even if an amendment is passed, Saunders would be able to keep only two of the pigs, because Vinton's animal control code allows only two pets per household, Ross said, but the ordinance normally is not enforced unless there are complaints.
Saunders also has two Chihuahuas, but she would be willing to find other homes for them if she could keep her pigs.
Saunders said she and her family - her husband, Gerald, and 10 children - have had the pigs since about November 1994.
The first pig, Arnold, was a Christmas gift from her husband, who then bought another pig, Wilbur, for himself. Charlotte, the third pig, was a gift from a friend to the entire family. The three pigs are brothers and sister, Emma Saunders said.
The pigs hadn't caused any problems in the neighborhood until Wilbur, the troublemaker of the trio, began to snoop around. In a neighbor's yard two houses over, a cherry tree began bearing fruit.
``[Wilbur] got out and found that cherry tree," Emma Saunders said.
Eventually, Wilbur was caught red-hoofed.
Emma Saunders said she didn't receive any complaints from the owner of the cherry tree, but she said she was confronted by her next-door neighbor.
For the pig to get to the tree, it had to cross through the neighbor's driveway. The Saunders' neighbor was concerned that Wilbur would get hit by cars entering the driveway.
Soon after the incident, others in the neighborhood began to complain about the pigs as well, Emma Saunders said.
A Vinton police officer who handles animal control told Emma Saunders that he had received three complaints, she said.
The officer did not return telephone calls Friday to confirm the number of complaints.
Emma Saunders believes that the pigs are just like any other pet. They are housebroken, and they even stay in the house "when they take a notion to come in," she said.
An uncle in Covington, who owns a farm, has agreed to keep the pigs until the problem is resolved. If an amendment is passed, she will give Wilbur to her uncle and keep Charlotte and Arnold.
But even losing Wilbur, "the troublemaker," would be like losing part of her family, she said.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***