Posted on 11/21/2015 5:36:59 AM PST by JoeProBono
CHANDLER, Ariz., - After three months of litigation, an Arizona family was allowed to keep a pot-bellied pig on the grounds that it helps their 9-year-old son, who has Asperger's.
In August the Gil family was told that they would have to get rid of Maggie, their 3-year-old Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, because their home was not properly zoned to house livestock. On Nov. 17 a court granted the family special permission to keep Maggie as a pet because the pig provides aid to their son Julian, who has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.
The City of Chandler stated that Maggie's presence "is necessary to afford the minor child an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the residence."
Gil's parents said that Maggie helps Julian express his feelings and interact with other children at school.
"Without her I would be somewhere not happy, probably in a corner," Julian told azcentral.com. "She's the only one that I pretty much have."
The family's lawyer John Schill was able to argue that the animal should be allowed to stay in the family's home under the Fair Housing Act because it provides Gil with emotional support.
"It was very good news to say. 'Hey, we won. Maggie gets to stay with Julian,' because there was a point in time when they first contacted me that I didn't know if we could win this case. I didn't know if Maggie was going to be able to stay with Julian," he told Tuscon News Now.
I am most happy when a comfort pig has been on the smoker for 10-12 hours.
Pigs are very intelligent...smarter than dogs actually.
So now Islamic teenage boys can keep comfort goats because of their uncontrollable urges.
And do make excellent pets.
Is this family renters?
Landlords can no longer have pet free properties. All tennants have to do is get a comfort animal prescription from a sham internet doctor, and the landlord is powerless to stop.
Who did the parents train.....The pig or the child?
It’s one way to muzzie proof your neighborhood!
People who I know who have a pig say they are like a mellow dog.
Yup, and that is why I hate the fact that when pigs are mass produced by the billions for consumption, they spend 4 years, their entire lives, standing in a tiny cage, in a warehouse, unable to turn around or even stretch. This causes them to go insane, as they are highly intelligent. It is animal cruelty, and there are currently no animal cruelty laws on the books for farm animals. I for one would not consider eating an animal that has been deprived and tortured for its entire life. We just got enough signatures in Massachusetts, 95,000, to put this question on the ballot in November 2016. We want humane conditions, larger cages. Is that asking too much?
I looked up the law in my city. Spay/neuter, get a license (rabies shot), and Arnold or Maggie is good to go.
Our piggy lived for 17 years. As an FYI, when our pig turned 3 he went from (he was already neutured) a sweet thing wanting kisses to an attack pig. Called the Vet. I had NO IDEA (piggy was a rescue pig) that Pot Bellies are pack animals and used in Vietnam as a guard animal. We made adjustments and he lived a happy life in the back yard (his own fenced area with his dog house).
“Pigs are very intelligent...smarter than dogs actually.”
They have excellent sniffers too! They can be trained to sniff out drugs and explosives better than a dog. Pigs should be used in airports by the TSA rather than dogs......
Excellent idea! The muzzies would run from them, and we would know exactly who to profile.
The look on the small dog next to the pig is priceless
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.