A Chickasaw family is fighting to keep their pet potbellied pig after the city issued a second citation accusing the household of violating an ordinance against keeping livestock inside city limits.
The pig, named Henry, has lived with his owner for roughly two years. According to the woman, who works in patient accounts at a Mobile medical practice, Henry was neutered by a local veterinarian early on to correct some undesirable behavior. Afterward, she said, his temperament changed completely. “He has every characteristic of a dog,” she said.
Henry shares the rented home with his owner, her fiance, her two daughters, her 93-year-old grandmother, two dogs, a cat and a bird. For a while he relieved himself in a baby pool kept on the front porch, and he was generally too timid to venture down the porch steps on his own.
The arrangement worked until a neighbor complained, prompting the city to issue a citation. The pig’s owner said the Chickasaw police chief was understanding at first, warning her she could keep Henry as long as there were no further complaints, but that another one would mean a trip to court.
That trip is now set. After returning home from taking one of her daughters to have her wisdom teeth removed, the woman said she found a second citation waiting for her, this one for “keeping a potbellied pig in violation of a city ordinance after a warning.” She is scheduled to appear in Chickasaw municipal court in late August.
City code in Chickasaw prohibits residents from keeping hogs and livestock, but the pig’s owner argues Henry doesn’t fit that description. “He is not livestock. He is a pet,” she said, describing him as crate-trained, food-motivated and quick to learn commands like sitting on cue.
Moving is not a simple option. The family has rented the same home for more than two years, and her daughters attend Chickasaw schools. “The kids are happy there, and I’m happy there,” she said. “There are so many other things in Chickasaw you could complain about.”
For now, Henry remains at home while his owner weighs her options, including asking her grandmother’s doctor to document the pig as a therapy animal, which she hopes could help him qualify for permanent residency in the city. She said she still doesn’t know which neighbor complained, or why. “I don’t understand why people don’t mind their own business,” she said.
The case is scheduled to be heard in Chickasaw municipal court later this summer.