San Gabriel Valley : Coming to Court: La Puente vs. Pig

This little piggy is going to court.

Giving a whole new meaning to pork barrel politics, the La Puente City Council is taking legal action to prohibit the owner of Montana, a potbellied pig, from keeping the animal in the city.

Citing a city ban on live swine dating to the 1960s, Mayor Louis Perez and Councilmen Joe V. Alderete and Edward Chavez voted to seek a civil injunction against Michele Walker, the owner of the 4-year-old pig--a move that could cost $12,000, officials said.

“The councilmen are being pigheaded,” said Councilwoman Sally Holguin-Fallon, who joined Councilman George Gaytan in opposing the action. “Nothing can be more silly than spending this money on getting rid of a pig when we have drug dealers and gangs in our community.”

Since a year ago when county animal control officers discovered the 80-pound pig and told Walker it must go under city law, Holguin-Fallon has fought unsuccessfully to rewrite the law to allow Montana to stay.

But Perez has said the pig is hurting the city’s image.

Hogwash, said Holguin-Fallon. “It’s the holiday season. The lasting image is of three Scrooges.”

Attorney Robert Ferguson, who is representing Walker, informed the city last week that it could not legally force the pig to go, and that animal control officers would be denied access to Walker’s home.

City Atty. Carol Lynch said that forces the city to seek an injunction to remove the pig.