San Gabriel Valley : The Fat’s in the Fire Over Potbellied Pigs
Once again, a potbellied pig named Montana is Balkanizing city politics in La Puente.
Live pigs are outlawed in the city, and a 3-2 City Council decision Tuesday kept it that way, denying proposed ordinance changes that would have allowed one potbellied pig per household.
That decision is hogwash, pig advocates say. Montana’s owner, Michelle Walker, has vowed to save the bacon, even it it means running for City Council in the next election.
In the meantime, Montana, the Vietnamese potbellied pig named after former quarterback Joe Montana, is likely to continue with his busy daily schedule of eating, oinking and sleeping.
Mayor Lou Perez, however, said Montana must go. “We have to look at the whole image of the city,” he said, explaining that the “bedroom community” can no longer appear like the countryside.
Perez also foresaw troublesome practicality issues if the potbellied pig problem is allowed to get out of control. “Who’s going to make sure those pigs are neutered?” he said. “The city’s not going to do it.”
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