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WELLSVILLE, Utah -- Michelle Ferguson's neighbors in the Cache County city of Wellsville keep goats, horses, cows and dogs. But if she wants to have a potbelly pig, she'll have to fight for it.
Ferguson is petitioning officials to change a city code that prohibits her from bringing home her new pet: an 8-week- old potbelly pig named Sparticus, The Herald Journal of Logan reported.
Pigs as an animal, I love pigs. Personality, the way they act they're like oversized dogs. At the same time, I wouldn't want (one) in my house.
–Carl Leatham
Ferguson said cities such as Portland, Ore.; Riverside, Calif.; and Phoenix allow residents to keep potbelly pigs within the city limits. The miniature potbelly pigs are relatively new to the country, she said, and the Wellsville ordinance prohibiting all pigs within the city limits was passed in 1972 with full- size farm pigs in mind.
"They're very small and they're very clean," Ferguson told The Herald Journal. "People think of a pig and they don't think it's clean, but (a potbelly) is a very clean animal. And they're inside pets, and so you train them just like a dog."
City Councilman Carl Leatham, who grew up in Wellsville before the ordinance was passed, said his neighbors owned farm pigs and "they sure did smell."
Pigs can become mean as they get older, he said, and they also need a place to wallow when it becomes hot because they can't sweat.
"Pigs as an animal, I love pigs. Personality, the way they act they're like oversized dogs," Leatham said. "At the same time, I wouldn't want (one) in my house."
Kristy Herzog, a potbelly pig owner in Newton, said contrary to popular belief about pigs in general, the little potbellies are cleaner and smell better than dogs, and are very sociable.
Ferguson will go before the Wellsville Planning and Zoning Commission on July 27. If approved, her request would go to the city council for final action.
Ferguson already has three dogs, a cockatoo and pet frogs.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
