Video: Pig On The Loose At Apartments Corralled By Officers And 'Old Farm Girl'
LOVELAND, Colo. (CBS4) -- When an unexpected visitor came squealing through and apartment complex in Loveland, it took police, animal control officers and one self-described "old farm girl" to chase it down.
Stephen Sarvis said he first heard his dogs barking on the balcony of his apartment at Ashley Estates at about 8:30 a.m. When he went to check he saw what he thought was a large dog in the parking lot below.
"Then I realized it was a pig," Sarvis said.
Sarvis said one neighbor was trying to corral the pig with a stick and a female Loveland police officer had a lasso but nothing was working.
Humane Society Sgt. Joe Quinn arrived and was able to get a rope around it -- but the pig was screeching and squealing and appeared to try to charge at residents and their dogs that were standing nearby.
Sarvis said the pig had large upper tusks and lower tusks.
Eventually, the pig calmed down enough that Sgt. Quinn was able to slowly approach it and even pet it on the back.
However, getting the pig into the animal control van presented a separate and difficult challenge.
That's when Michelle Bauer, 62, joined the informal posse.
Bauer said she heard the squealing as she was about to take her dogs out.
"Being the nosy neighbor I am, I went to check," Bauer told CBS4.
She showed up as they were struggling to get the pig up the ramp to the van.
"The pig was clearly agitated," said Bauer, who used to live in Nebraska and was active in 4H in her youth. "I said, 'You're not going to get it in the van like this.'"
Bauer asked if the officers had two boards that could be used to block the pig's peripheral vision and guide it toward the van. They didn't, but they improvised, using the plastic bases of two dog kennels.
Bauer said she grabbed the pig by the tail, the officers held the plastic barriers on each side, and they guided it straight up the ramp and into the van.
Bauer, who describes herself as an "old farm girl" says it's been decades since she actually dealt with any livestock.
"I guess I haven't lost my skill or instinct," she laughed.
Bauer said a couple of the bystanders seemed especially interested in catching and keeping the pig.
"I said to them, 'You can't have a pig in this community," but she didn't know if the pig actually belonged to them.
Kaylene Weingardt with the Larimer County Humane Society said it's the first pig they've caught in the two-and-a-half years she's been on the job.
"You may never know what you're going to come across. [Sgt. Quinn] has helped catch cows before. It's pretty rare for a pig to be running around town," told CBS4.
The pig is being housed and cared for at the humane society while they try to find its owner.
The humane society released a photo of the "at large pig," showing its large tusks.
If no one comes forward after five days, the pig will go through the standard adoption process.
