Woman Claims Pet-Sitter Made Her Pig Fat

[Kor37 9]

Woman Claims Pet-Sitter Made Her Pig Fat

AP

Posted: 2007-10-30 22:24:04

WINONA, Minn. (AP) - A woman wants abuse charges filed against an acquaintance who was pet-sitting for her potbellied pig and allowed the animal to get fat.

 

Michelle Schmitz said her pig, Alaina Templeton, weighed 50 pounds when Schmitz left her with a co-worker who offered to care for the animal in February, when Schmitz went on medical leave to recover from ankle surgeries.

 

Nine months later, the pig weighed 150 pounds and it took veterinarians 4 1/2 hours to surgically remove the animal's collar, the Winona Daily News reported. Officers are investigating whether Alaina was abused by the sitter's neglect and overfeeding.

 

Investigator Jeff Mueller of the Winona County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday that no charges had been filed against the pig sitter, whose name was not released.

 

Schmitz, 22, said she bottle-fed Alaina when she was just 11 days old and kept her on a strict diet to keep her weight at about 50 pounds.

 

When she tried to recover the pig in April, Schmitz said the co-worker wouldn't return her calls. She said that she didn't know where the woman lived and that when she finally found the woman's farm Saturday, she discovered that Alaina's neck had grown around her collar and that the pig had trouble breathing.

 

The pig now wears bandages and is healing from a pressure wound and neck infection.

 

Schmitz said she cried for three days after she discovered her pet's weight problem.

 

"That pig is my life," said Schmitz, who has a tattoo of Alaina's name.

 

 

 

"The pig is her life" yet she leaves it for 9 months....... <_<

9 months to recover from ankle surgery???....

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

A friend of mine in college had a pot-bellied pig.

 

His favorite foods? You guessed it, bacon and pork sausage.

[trekz 7]

If the pig was the "woman's life", why let an "acquaintance" take care of it, especially when she didn't seem to know where she lived? <_<

 

And what kind of name is Alaina for a pig?

[Gummy 0]

Woman Claims Pet-Sitter Made Her Pig Fat

AP

Posted: 2007-10-30 22:24:04

WINONA, Minn. (AP) - A woman wants abuse charges filed against an acquaintance who was pet-sitting for her potbellied pig and allowed the animal to get fat.

 

Michelle Schmitz said her pig, Alaina Templeton, weighed 50 pounds when Schmitz left her with a co-worker who offered to care for the animal in February, when Schmitz went on medical leave to recover from ankle surgeries.

 

Nine months later, the pig weighed 150 pounds and it took veterinarians 4 1/2 hours to surgically remove the animal's collar, the Winona Daily News reported. Officers are investigating whether Alaina was abused by the sitter's neglect and overfeeding.

 

Investigator Jeff Mueller of the Winona County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday that no charges had been filed against the pig sitter, whose name was not released.

 

Schmitz, 22, said she bottle-fed Alaina when she was just 11 days old and kept her on a strict diet to keep her weight at about 50 pounds.

 

When she tried to recover the pig in April, Schmitz said the co-worker wouldn't return her calls. She said that she didn't know where the woman lived and that when she finally found the woman's farm Saturday, she discovered that Alaina's neck had grown around her collar and that the pig had trouble breathing.

 

The pig now wears bandages and is healing from a pressure wound and neck infection.

 

Schmitz said she cried for three days after she discovered her pet's weight problem.

 

"That pig is my life," said Schmitz, who has a tattoo of Alaina's name.

 

 

 

"The pig is her life" yet she leaves it for 9 months....... <_<

9 months to recover from ankle surgery???....

I've seen people in a coma for a shorter period of time.

[Kor37 9]

UPDATE:

 

Pig Sitter Charged; Portly Pet on Diet

AP

Posted: 2007-11-06 16:33:46

WINONA, Minn. (AP) - A pet pig whose weight tripled while it was in the care of a sitter has been placed on a diet - and an animal cruelty charge has been filed against the caretaker.

 

The 5-year-old animal, Alaina Templeton, part potbellied pig, has lost 10 percent of her 150 pounds and is recovering well from surgery to remove a collar that had become embedded in her overly fat neck, owner Michelle Schmitz said.

 

Alaina made headlines last week after Schmitz complained that the pet sitter had allowed Alaina to go from her normal 50 pounds to 150 pounds in just nine months. Schmitz had left Alaina with the sitter, a co-worker, while she was on medical leave to recover from ankle surgery.

 

Alaina apparently had been foraging for cat food and chicken feed outdoors at the co-worker's farm.

 

Schmitz said now that her pet is back home, the excess pounds will "melt off" with a healthy diet and exercise. She said she and Alaina's veterinarian consider 50 pounds a more suitable weight for the mixed-breed pig.

 

A misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty has been filed against Mary Beesecker, 52, of Houston, Minn., Winona County Sheriff David Brand said.

 

"I want her to be held responsible for what she did and what she didn't do," Schmitz said.

 

Beesecker did not immediately respond to a call from The Associated Press seeking comment Tuesday, and she has refused requests from The Winona Daily News for an interview.

 

 

[TJ Phaserman 2]

the charges aren't going to stick unless the pig's diet was meant to change.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

The pig's better off than it would be if no one had agreed to watch it.