MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A friendly pet pig found wandering the streets of Memphis now has a new home.
Petey the potbellied pig went up for adoption Tuesday at the city’s animal shelter. He was adopted within minutes.
Petey was found Friday near the intersection of Kirby and Mount Moriah. The lady who brought him in to the shelter said she lured him with French fries.
They quickly realized he preferred snuggling in blankets to hanging out in a barn.
“This is clearly a house pet. This is not a barn pig,'” said Alexis Pugh with MAS. “This is not a pig that certainly needs to be eaten or considered as a breakfast meat.”
At first the shelter named him Peggy but, after further research, found Petey was actually a male. He is about 47 pounds, maybe 1 year old, and the shelter says he is extremely well-socialized and friendly.
The shelter posted a video of Petey enjoying some blankets, fruit and attention inside the shelter. In just 24 hours, the post had been shared 1,000 times and gained hundreds of comments and reactions.
This isn’t the first time the shelter has housed a pig.
“You may not know it, but this shelter gets all kinds of animals that aren’t dogs and cats,” Pugh said. “We’re talking about animals like goats, chickens, snakes, even hedgehogs if you can believe it. Unless it’s wildlife we don’t turn our back on it. We accept it here and help it find its home.”
According to Memphis city code, a permit is required to keep a pig and, in case you were wondering, they are not allowed to “run at large” on city streets.
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