City of Azusa (AZ) could displace rescued pot-bellied pigs

By Bethania Palma, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/24/2008 10:38:10 PM PDT

AZUSA - Kelley Sakata-Moon scratches Dudley's back as he snuffles through a bowl of food in her back yard. The elderly pot bellied pig has an unusual birth defect. The spotted, 170-pound porker's front feet turn outward and his knees buckle inward, rendering him lame.

Nearby, Chewy enjoys the shade. Sakata-Moon said the 10-year-old named for the Star Wars Wookie is completely deaf.

For 13 years, Sakata-Moon has offered a haven for unwanted, unadoptable pot bellied pigs at her home in the 300 block of Twintree Avenue. She said the animals, which were popular pets in the 1980s, now often turn up abandoned or neglected.

But a complaint by a neighbor last year prompted her first citation for having more animals than zoning allows at her home. Sakata-Moon fought it in court in hopes that her seven pigs would get to stay, but last week a judge ruled against her. City officials said they are willing to work with her but added that she is in violation of zoning and must come into compliance. City code allows only one pot bellied pig per home.

"We're more than willing to try to work with the property owner to come to a reasonable solution for transition," said City Manager Fran Delach. "But it needs to be reasonable not only for her, but her neighbors."

Delach said there had been complaints of noise and smell, although none of the neighbors interviewed recently had problems with the pigs. "It doesn't smell and we don't hear them," said neighbor Rosalba Carrillo, 19. "There's no problem with them."

Even without pressure from the city, Sakata-Moon said her days as a pig rescuer are numbered because of serious knee problems. She said she only wants to honor her commitment to care for the animals she has now. "To move them would be to end their lives," she said. "It's just a matter of letting the old and ill ones live out their lives here."

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