So what was a young pot-bellied pig doing walking around Ingleside Monday afternoon in the middle of winter?
If you know, call Lake County Animal Care and Control, because they are looking for its owner.
The young female pig was brought into Round Lake Animal Hospital Monday after it was found wandering in an Ingleside yard, said hospital manager Kristine Wadzinski.
She said it was clear the animal is domesticated.
“She likes her belly rubbed, she walks up to people and she rolls over,” Wadzinski said. “She’s obviously somebody’s pet. She’s way too nice to be a farm pig. She’s super friendly.”
The pig is now being held at the Lake County Health Department’s Animal Care and Control facility near Libertyville, where it will remain for the next 10 days unless she is claimed by her owner, according to Health Department spokesperson Leslie Piotrowski.
She said it is rare to have a pig at the animal control facility.
The owner or anyone with information about the pig’s home is asked to call Animal Control at 847-377-4700.
Piotrowski said that after 10 days, under policy, the pig would be transferred to a rescue organization to arrange for an adoption. She echoed Wadzinski’s observation that the pig is somebody’s pet.
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“It appears to be someone’s pet. It’s very friendly and its house-broken,” Piotrowski said, noting the animal gives a signal when it needs to go to the bathroom outside.
Piotrowski said the pig is young, believed to be between nine months and a year old. It weighs 36 pounds and is primarily black with a white mark on its head. It was found without tags or any identification.
Health Department officials had the pig examined by a vet, who prescribed a medicated soap for its skin, Piotrowski said, adding that the animal did not like the bath that followed. While the pig may have been abandoned, signs point toward the likelihood it has a caring owner.
“She’s pretty fat,” Wadzinski said. “She was well taken care of, wherever she was.”
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