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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 19, 1995                   TAG: 9507190067
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LITTLE PIGGIES CAN'T FIND THEIR WAY HOME

Vinton Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday not to amend its code to allow Vietnamese potbellied pigs in town limits.

Emma Saunders, who had asked council to change the code, wasn't allowed to bring one of her three pigs into council chambers during the public hearing. But after the vote, she stormed in, carrying Charlotte in her arms.

"You want to take my pigs away? If you want to rip out my heart, you might as well take one of my kids away," Saunders told council.

Saunders, who was supported at the meeting by her husband, Gerald, and ten of her 13 children, said she was not about to stop there.

"I'm going to see a lawyer," she vowed.

Vinton's councilmen argued that changing the town code would cause a chain of other animal issues.

"If we approve potbellied pigs, are we going to be back here in a few weeks approving ostriches, llamas [and other animals]?'' Vice Mayor Joe Bush asked. "If we begin to amend the town code, we're going to have to address other issues, and it's going to be hard to draw the line."

"We can't change the law to make someone in compliance with the law," Councilman Robert Altice added.

The council chamber was packed with neighbors who say the pigs have been running loose in their yards. Almost three weeks ago, Saunders was forced to give up her three pigs - Wilbur, Arnold and Charlotte - because of the neighbors' complaints.

"It's not the potbellied pigs. It's the fact there are too many of them and they're not taken proper care of," said Carol Wharton, who lives near Saunders.

"They have been out loose," said another neighbor, William English. "I have seen the pigs in the trash."

"We can hear them squealing at our house," Rose Marie English added. "I just think there's too many."

Some fellow pig owners also voiced their opinions at the meeting. They argued that the issue was not whether Saunders' pigs were getting loose, but whether potbellied pigs should be allowed in Vinton. The town considers the pigs to be livestock.

"I don't believe they were comparing apples to apples," Maurice Goodrich said after the meeting. She lives in Roanoke and owns one pig, Hillary.

"The Vietnamese potbellied pig has become the 'yuppie puppy' of the '90s,'' said Annette LaFleche, who owns Hiney. "Roanoke city doesn't have a problem with it, and Salem doesn't have a problem with it."

But the council wasn't persuaded.

"What happens if the next 'yuppie puppy' is a pygmy goat?'' asked Councilman Billy Obenchain. "At what point do you think we should stop?''

Saunders said the issue was about more than just the pigs.

"To me, I felt like it was a personal vendetta," Saunders said after the meeting. "I felt like the decision was made before I ever got in there."