No Pig in a Poke : Simi Valley Offers a Refuge for a Homeless Porker

A potbellied pig found wandering the streets of Burbank two months ago has found a home in Simi Valley, about a year after the Simi Valley City Council decided that pigs are not just pigs, they’re pets.

It wasn’t easy for Biscuits, who roamed the open road in search of companionship, found it and then lost it because of stereotypes he could not overcome. His tale is about one pig’s search for acceptance.

Burbank actor Gregory Buccella paid $50 for the homeless hog this week at a Burbank animal shelter and resolved to pamper the street-hardened porker in his rented North Hollywood home.

But the happy pair had barely arrived when the actor’s landlord squealed as if he were about to be butchered. After learning of the new tenant through news reports, the owner decreed that Buccella could not bring home the bacon.

To avoid ending up on the streets himself, Buccella went looking for a new home for the 70-pound pig and found Biscuits a bunk in Simi Valley--where city officials respect every potbelly’s right to roam. The council last year changed the city’s zoning ordinance to classify potbellied pigs as household pets.

“You can train them as well as you can any animal and I guess the council looked at it and said, ‘What’s the difference between a pig or a dog or a cat or any other animal?’ ” Councilman Bill Davis said Friday. “People have strange things for pets, so we decided to take a shot at it.”

Mayor Greg Stratton said: “People testified that they were housebreakable and were basically no different than a dog.”

Buccella turned to the Southern California Pot-Bellied Pig Assn. for help in finding a new home for the peripatetic pig. The association contacted Karna Bose, a Simi Valley resident who said she had wanted one of the pigs as a pet for several years but had been unable to afford the $1,000 or more they had cost until prices began to plunge recently.

“I have a big yard and I’ve got dogs and rabbits and my parrot. . .and now I’ve got my baby,” she said. “They are the cutest little guys you ever did see and they have the neatest personalities.”

She picked up her new pet Thursday and said he seemed to be adjusting easily, despite his odyssey. “He slept in the house last night and he did great. He buries himself under the blanket at night.”

Only one more transition awaits Biscuits: Bose said she won’t keep that name.

Stratton said the city has not seen an influx of pig-lovers in the wake of its liberal policies.

“I can’t say that I’ve seen a flush of them. From what I’ve heard, they’ve died down from being the hot animal, because they’re not as well-behaved as someone might want them to be.”

Ventura County Animal Regulation Director Kathy Jenks said the potbellied fad does appear to have run its course and has resulted in a steady flow of adult pigs being turned over to the county or Humane Society.

Jenks said her department recently turned over three pigs to a Santa Ynez group that rescues potbellies from uncertain shelter fates. One of the animals had been left with the county by an owner no longer able to handle it. The others were found running loose in Simi Valley and Ventura.

Colvin is a Times staff writer and Maiella is a Times correspondent.