Staff writer
Pot-bellied pigs Daisy and Petunia caused quite a stir in Goessel Thursday morning when they decided to go for a stroll and check out the local puddles.
“I saw them first west of town by the city water wells,” City Clerk Anita Goertzen said. “They were just trucking down the highway headed into town.”
Goertzen went to the city office to fetch her camera and by the time she got back, several bystanders were enjoying the scene of the two pigs playing in ditches that were flowing with runoff from the overnight rains.
“It’s not something you see every day here,” said Larry Lindeman. “We had to take a picture, they were so cute.”
Owner Cindy Gaddis, who lives with her family two miles west of Goessel, was not happy, however, to hear her pigs had become famous.
“I got them from one of my bosses in Newton,” she said. “They had been house-pigs but we tried to get them to live outside at our farm. Unfortunately, they have become escape artists.”
Gaddis said she had owned the pigs for six months, but she was rapidly getting tired of the problems they were causing.
“I just don’t have the time go chasing them into town every day,” she said. “They are very tame and just follow me back home when I come for them, but really, I don’t need this much exercise!”
Gaddis said the pigs just recently learned to escape from their electric fence pen. Until last week, they were content to stay in the yard. She said it was possible the rain made them interested in following puddles into town.
“They are good little pigs, but since they are pot-bellied pigs, there really isn’t a place for them anymore,” she said. “If they were real pigs we could eat them, but they are just pets.”
Gaddis said her family also raised chickens and had several cats. Luckily, none of them were following the pigs to town.
Goertzen said even though it was fun to see the pigs come through town she thought it best for their owner to find a way to keep them home.
“We don’t need them knocking on doors or getting into gardens,” she said. “It was fun to have them visit, but hopefully they will stay home now.”