Runaway potbellied pig rescued by Harper Woods police

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They are calling her Petunia - a potbellied pig rescued in Harper Woods on Easter Sunday after residents near Woodland and Harper Avenue called police.

"Apparently there was a call that a pig was running loose down the street," said Lt. Tom Teatsorth, Harper Woods police. "Officers went over there and they were able to recover the pig."

Which they did - just like they would catch a dog.

"She squealed a little bit when they first put the collar around her neck, she was able to get into the car and she wasn't injured," Teatsorth said.

And now it's been non-stop, good-natured jokes about pigs catching a pig. 

"In this day and age this publicity is better than a lot of the other publicity we could be receiving," Teatsorth said.

But even the folks at the Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society thought it was a joke.

"I thought the police department was playing a joke on me," said Corinne Martin of the animal adoption society. "It was April Fool's yesterday - and a full moon and everything else, so I just thought it was a joke."

But it's no joke and now Petunia is resting comfortably - probably heading to a pig rescue about an hour away - unless they can find the owner.

"We're still hoping to find the owner," Martin said. "I can't imagine how a pig gets lost on Easter unless they were thinking about ham for dinner and she took off."

"We'd hope that the owner would come forward and say it's my pig it got out of the yard, which is what we are assuming," said Teatsorth. "Or maybe it escaped out of a car when it stopped at a stop sign. We hope the owner would come forward to recover the pig."

Anyone with information contact Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society (313) 884-1551 or Harper Woods police (313) 343-2530.