CAMARILLO : Abducted Pig Returned to Pet Store

The case of the pilfered pig came to a joyous conclusion Saturday morning.

Macon, the 23-day-old potbellied pig abducted from the Pet Headquarters store in Camarillo Thursday night, was returned by an acquaintance of the alleged pig snatcher.

George White of Ventura said he returned Macon with the provision that he not identify a young woman whom witnesses saw fleeing the shop with the pig.

“I’m not going to talk about it. Part of the deal on the return was that I would not tell who I got it from,” White said. “A person came to me and asked, ‘What should I do’ and I said, ‘I’ll take it back.’ ”

White’s return of the pig, at 10:30 a.m., delighted the folks at Pet Headquarters.

“The pig ate for 45 minutes straight. He obviously wasn’t well taken care of,” store owner Kevin Madden said of the four-pound pink piglet. “But he’s all right now. He’s back to his old self. He’s sleeping.”

Madden said word of Macon’s homecoming brought out many well-wishers from the community.

“It’s really kind of neat just to see people come back for this pig,” he said.

For his part, White was just glad to right a wrong.

“I feel like a citizen returning something that definitely was taken from its rightful owner,” he said. “I’m very, very glad the folks got the pig back.”

The pig’s return, however, was not without incident.

“He did make a mess on me on the way back,” White said. “He was a very, very ungrateful pig.”

Camarillo police said they will continue investigating the theft.