
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 21, 1995                   TAG: 9510220016
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VINTON SEEKS INJUNCTION TO BAN PIGS

Vinton has tried almost everything to rid the town of three potbellied pigs, including changing its animal control laws to single out the porcine pets.

Now the town is seeking a civil action to enforce its no-pig policy.

Town Attorney Buck Heartwell has filed a motion in Roanoke County Circuit Court against Gerald and Emma Saunders, requesting an injunction to ban their pigs - Charlotte, Wilbur and Arnold - permanently from Vinton.

Heartwell did not return phone calls Friday to comment on the lawsuit.

The town also is asking the court to require the Saunderses to pay all legal costs involved. They will have 28 days to respond to the motion.

Emma Saunders first was notified in June that her pets were in violation of town animal control laws that prohibit keeping livestock. Emma Saunders challenged the law in July in Roanoke County General District Court, and Judge George W. Harris Jr. ruled that the law's definition of livestock was too vague.

Vinton amended its ordinance Oct. 3 specifically to outlaw Vietnamese potbellied pigs.

Thursday, with all three pigs remaining at the Saunderses' home on West Cleveland Avenue, the town filed the injunction.

"I'm still going to fight," Emma Saunders said Friday after she learned of the town's actions. "I love my pets."

by CNB