DUBOIS – On Monday night, resident Elizabeth Gordon presented the Sandy Township Supervisors with a petition containing 32 signatures in an attempt to keep her pet pot-bellied pig, Olive.
According to her, Olive has been a member of her family for 11 years. She also presented the supervisors with copies of her senior picture with Olive in order to demonstrate their close relationship.
“I, please, want you to vote for Olive to stay in her home with her family,” said Gordon. Board Chairperson Jim Jeffers said he could neither comment on her petition nor her request due to ongoing litigation.
After the meeting, Zoning Officer Jim Keck explained that the Gordon family is currently involved in a lawsuit over Olive. It was noted that township code forbids pigs, hogs and swine in all zoned properties, except for in residential/agricultural areas.
The Gordon family, Keck said, lives in a home zoned as residential.
According to Keck, the pot-bellied pig also escaped the Gordon property several times, including visits to Christ the King Manor Nursing Home, DuBois, where residents started to feed it. At that point, Keck said Olive’s escapes became a safety concern in the event he’d bite a nursing home resident.
After Sandy Township police returned Olive three times, Keck said the pig’s escape issue required magisterial action. Keck explained the Gordon family is currently appealing the magisterial verdict at the county level.
