ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 19, 1996 TAG: 9606190052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
FORCED TO GIVE UP their pet pigs in 30 days, the Saunderses are considering finding a temporary home for the pigs until the family can move to a different area.
Vinton's three little pigs may yet find a haven from hog heaven.
After losing a court battle to keep her family's three potbellied pets, Emma Saunders said Monday she would probably have Arnold, Charlotte and Wilbur euthanized before the expiration of the 30-day eviction deadline.
But Tuesday morning she awoke to find a man from Lexington at her front door offering to pay her legal fees if she appealed the court ruling.
"He came by about 8 a.m.," she said. "We'd just got out of bed. He told me not to give up."
The man left, but promised to return and discuss the family's legal bills, now totaling an estimated $2,000.
"I said, 'Well, if this man is for real, he'll be back,''' Emma Saunders said.
Even if he doesn't return, more than a dozen people have called or visited the family, their attorney and local media offering advice, money and new homes for the three pigs.
Vinton officials tried to ban the pigs last year, but a Roanoke County General District Court judge ruled that the town's ordinance was too vague. However, Town Council amended the ordinance to specifically prohibit Vietnamese potbellied pigs, and the law was upheld this week in Circuit Court.
Saunders said she's still not sure she wants to put her 90-pound pigs up for adoption. However, she's weighing the offers she's received with an eye toward finding a temporary refuge for her pets until the entire family can move to a more pig-friendly area. She said she'll also insist on visitation rights.
Pig lovers in Wytheville and Bedford and Fauquier counties have volunteered to take the pigs. Donna Metzger, owner of the Wytheville KOA campground, said she's taken in many exotic pets on the lam from animal-control laws. She said the three Vinton pigs are welcome to join her two potbellied pigs - Empress and Hamlet - along with the donkey, goats, ferrets and iguanas that inhabit the resort.
Gail Hawkins said she moved from Annapolis to a farm in Fauquier County so she could keep her pigs, Sassy and Mr. T.
"I love them," she said. "People just do not believe it, but they're smarter than dogs, and they're just gorgeous."
The closest offer so far has come from Sherry Owens in Bedford County, who already has three pigs; she says she'd allow the Saunderses easy access to their pets.
"They can pick them up and keep them for a weekend," she said. "I'm not playing around. I'm very serious."
A morning call-in show on K92 radio yielded yet another suggestion: a Pig Sanctuary for orphaned potbellies in Charleston, W.Va.
Emma Saunders said Charleston is too far away. She has been hesitant to give the pigs away because last year all three quit eating when Arnold and Wilbur were carted away to a farm for four days. Lela Spitz, a local animal-rights activist, called to assure the family that the pigs would eventually adjust.
"They do pine, but in a week they will eat because they are not dumb," Spitz said.
The Saunderses are looking for a home in Roanoke County, but it hasn't been easy because they need space for six of their 10 children, four grandchildren, two Chihuahuas and five birds as well as the pigs.
Others lacking facilities for the three pigs deliberated over ways to keep the family together. Alletta Dorothy Smith called The Roanoke Times to propose that the family enter an essay contest in which the prize is a five-bedroom home in Peterstown, W.Va.
Seth Mann, whose parents are giving away their pre-Civil War home through the contest, was startled into monosyllables when contacted about the idea.
"Uh. Yes. No. Uh," he said.
His father, Darrell, warmed to the idea immediately, however, and offered to waive the $100 entry fee.
"I've even thought about getting a potbellied pig," he said. "If they're interested, they can give me a call."
Whatever the Saunderses decide to do, Emma said there's now a chance the Vinton pig saga will end in celebration rather than mourning.
And how do pigs celebrate? Emma Saunders said hers prefer chocolate chip cookies to booze.
"Charlotte's my only beer drinker," she said. "Arnold won't touch the stuff."
LENGTH: Medium: 88 linesby CNB