Police have appealed for help as they try to track down two Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs on the loose in a city suburb.
Vietnamese pot-bellied pig from Flickr
The escaped pair are thought to have made for a break from a farm near Southampton following the “breakdown in the relationship” of a couple who live at the property.
One of the pigs is white while the other is black and white
Locals have been warned not to approach the animals – which can weigh up to 140kg and have the potential to be dangerous.
The police, council and RSPCA have been alerted to the situation – with members of the public spotting the pigs grazing on grassland in the Coxford area of town.
A spokesman for Hampshire police said: “We have a number of sightings but they are still on the loose.
“It is a bit unusual but we have passed the case to the RSPCA.
“It appears there has been a breakdown in the relationship between the couple at the farm and somehow the pigs got loose.”
Ward councillor Don Thomas told Southampton’s Daily Echo: “We need to get this resolved as a matter of urgency not just for the sake of the pigs, but more importantly before an accident is caused by these pigs roaming about on our local roads.
“After all Coxford ward is a city suburb, and not what I would describe as countryside where you may expect pigs roaming freely.”
The whole episode bears a resemblance to the famous ‘Tamworth Two’ story when a pair of pigs escaped from a lorry on its way to the abattoir.
Nicknamed ‘Butch’ and ‘Sundance’, the two pigs were on the run for over a week in 1998 and became hugely popular.
But despite becoming tabloid favourites, the pigs’ farmer still planned on taken them to the slaughterhouse. However, the Daily Mail stepped in and bought the farm animals and sent them to a sanctuary in Kent.