City Council Tells Owner of Pot-Bellied Pig He Can’t Bring Home the Bacon

Despite more than a dozen animal lovers showing up in support of Oscar Mayer, the pot-bellied pig, the City Council voted unanimously to retain its ordinance prohibiting farm animals in residential areas and force him to get rid of his snout-nosed companion.

“They make the laws for the people that don’t take care of animals--but I take care of Oscar,” said Robert Hamilton, who has owned the pig since 1992. “I’ll take this as far as I can. Until I’m told by a man with a gun in his hand to get rid of Oscar, I’m keeping him.”

The city’s Code Enforcement Department has recommended that the city attorney press criminal charges against Hamilton, 43. If he is convicted, the city suggests Hamilton be placed on summary probation for two years, pay a $1,000 fine and show proof that he has relocated his “best friend.”

One of Hamilton’s neighbors first complained about Oscar last July, saying the pig stinks and draws flies and rats, said John McCurley, the city’s code enforcement supervisor. He added that Hamilton has not cooperated with earlier requests to remove Oscar from his Colony Drive residence.

“I’ve had two other inquiries since this hit the paper . . . with people asking if the ordinance is changed, whether one could have a miniature horse and another a Pygmy goat,” McCurley said.

In the past two years, Camarillo has received three other complaints about the Vietnamese version of the common farm animal, which some people consider to be house pets.

Camarillo resident Terry West is one of those who had to get rid of her pet--a pig named Charlie.

“Charlie now lives in Ojai and is being boarded,” she said. “They’re like members of your family and he’s upset about being away and living with other pigs.”

Pot-bellied pigs are not farm animals, are good with children and are clean, said Lee Casey Talles of Oxnard, who has owned one for more than five years.

“I also have dogs and the dogs do smell--they are dirty and noisy,” Talles said. “I’d rather have three pigs than three dogs.” She later told the Camarillo council she would help Hamilton with attorney fees to help him keep Oscar.

Marga and Russ Hanks, owners of the house next to Hamilton, told the council that they never had rats before Oscar arrived and blame him for other unwanted pests as well.

“I love animals myself, but when you have a 200-pound pig next to you, don’t tell me it doesn’t create odor and flies,” Marga Hanks said.