Pigs in the Pokey : Pets: Vietnamese potbellies are being dropped off at animal shelters as owners find they’re far less user-friendly than Fido and Kitty.

It’s a fad that has gone potbelly up. Pet owners who found Vietnamese potbellied pigs all the rage a year ago are starting to tell porkers, “Th-th-that’s all, folks.”

The low-slung pigs are turning up as unwanted orphans in animal shelters from Boston to Ojai.

Within the past six months, two pigs have been dropped off at the Ventura County Humane Society by disenchanted owners, said Jolene Hoffman, shelter director.

“It’s really sad,” Hoffman said. “I get so frustrated. Here we have so many dogs and cats in the shelters. Now we have to deal with pigs.”

Although East Coast animal activists blame the recession for forcing pet owners there to surrender their animals to shelters, fickleness is fingered on the West Coast.

Once the uniqueness of owning a pet pig here wears out, so does its welcome.

Hoffman said a couple from upper Ojai dropped off Louie, a 160-pound pig with tusks, several weeks ago. They were desperate to get rid of him.

“They were going on vacation and didn’t want to board him,” Hoffman said. “They signed him over to us knowing that we might not be able to find a home for him.”

Luckily, Hoffman said, she was able to find a family to adopt the beast. But another pig she took in several weeks ago was not so fortunate.

The staff had to put the animal to sleep because it was so aggressive, she said.

“People don’t realize that these are pigs,” Hoffman said. “They’re not like a dog or a cat.”

Raena Barry, a pet-pigs’ advocate from Moorpark who has helped find a new home for unwanted Vietnamese potbellied pigs, said many who have purchased the pets received only rudimentary information about raising them.

Some buyers also have been misled about the potbellies’ ultimate size, she said. Many were shocked when their piglets started growing. And growing. And growing.

Barry, founder of the National Committees on Potbellied Pigs, said her group is encouraging pig breeders to give pet buyers better information and pig-raising instructions.

She said buyers should be aware that the pigs typically grow to 65 pounds or more. That is small by farm pig standards, but not by some pet owners’ expectations.

Jim Connelly, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation, said that even the tiniest of potbellied pigs do not appeal to everyone.

“I’ve got kids at home, so naturally I have animals,” Connelly said. “But not pigs. My pigs stay in cartoons.”

Frank Andrews, the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Control, agreed.

“Once you see one up close, it’s not really the cute, cuddly pet,” he said. “When you have your best $28 pants on, it cools your enthusiasm.”

Some who have tried to train their pet pigs have also been frustrated when the animals reacted differently to discipline than puppies do. Pigs can be stubborn. And they can hold a grudge if they are mistreated.

At the Lacy Street animal shelter in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles, a pig named Porque is in no mood to be cuddled. That is because he may have been abused by his owner before animal control officers spied him waddling down an El Sereno street about six months ago.

Porque was named by shelter workers after no one claimed him. Since then, he has grunted his way into the workers’ hearts, said animal control officer George Figueroa. The pig has been declared the staff mascot.

“He’s not going to the Farmer John plant, I can guarantee you that,” Figueroa said.