Poor pig....

Slaughterhouse-bound pig tries to escape
November 15, 2005

ELLSWORTH, Maine --A 280-pound pig delayed, but couldn't derail, its trip to a Bangor slaughterhouse when it bolted from a wooden trailer after its owners had stopped at a red light.

The pig made its break for freedom shortly before noon Monday and scampered down the road. Police were soon in pursuit, following the brown-spotted pink sow through several yards before it plopped down on the ground about a half hour after its leap from the trailer.

"She was tired so she laid down," said Officer Daniel Owens. "That's probably the most exercise she has had in her life."

Using a rope and a flexible plastic backboard, police and firefighters tried to drag the pig back to the trailer. The pig protested by curling its lips and letting out piercing squeals that made bystanders wince.

"You just feel badly for the poor thing," said neighbor Barbara Williams, who watched from a distance.

With help from the pig's owners, who live in Bar Harbor, police and firefighters were finally able to muscle the animal back onto the trailer, where it laid down on a pile of dirt and crab apples and closed its eyes.

The owners then jumped into the cab of the pickup truck and resumed the trip to the slaughterhouse.