Wayward pig likely to find home soon

A chihuahua yapped incessantly in a nearby cage while the black pot-bellied pig looked on.

He seemed to sigh at the drama and flopped over on his side, snorting softly under his breath.

But the pig­—housed at the Cobb County animal shelter since Sunday—need not snub his snout at others. Last week the wayward critter was at the center of the drama as the target of an unsuccessful four-day pig patrol.

Named Ken by animal control staff (Barbie was another pig at the shelter recently), the approximately 25-pound pig was first spotted during rush hour Jan. 27 along I-75 near Chastain Road.

Animal control officers started looking for Ken and set some humane traps. Police were afraid the animal would run into interstate traffic.

In the following days Ken was spotted here and there near the first place he was seen. But each time officers would get close he would dash into the woods.

Cobb police praised Ken’s intelligence this week saying he was a “very smart little guy.”

But finally on Sunday, the gig was up. Upon checking the traps, Ken was spotted and apprehended by animal control officers.

And that brings us to Ken’s current situation. Police think he is somebody’s pet, said Sgt. Dana Pierce, spokesman with Cobb police.

But nobody has come for him. “And the pig’s not talking,” Pierce said.

Ken has been subsisting on dog food at the shelter and spent most of Thursday afternoon snoozing on a gray wool blanket in his cage.

He is in a separate room from the general population—a pregnant labrador to his left and the vocal Chihuahua to the right on top of a counter.

Ken’s owner has until Saturday to come get him. After that, he will go up for adoption, said Don Bruce, operations manager at the facility.

And even though there is a long list of people who have called about taking Ken home, he will more than likely go to live with one of the officers who helped catch him.

“He decided he wanted a pig,” Bruce said.

Hope he has a secure place to keep him.