[Animals] Pigs don’t fly: Louisiana piglet rescued after being thrown in Mardi Gras

[7aMoDi]

Lieutenant governor ‘pardons’ animal and Republican local politician adopts it after its rescue in New Orleans

 

The piglet (not pictured) has been dubbed Earl ‘Piglet’ Long, a play on the name of the 45th governor of Louisiana. Photograph: Sonja Rachbauer/Getty Images/iStockphoto

 

A piglet that was rescued after being tossed like a football near a Mardi Gras event in New Orleans was “pardoned” on Wednesday and has found a permanent home with a Louisiana lawmaker. The weeks-old pig – dubbed Earl “Piglet” Long, a play on the name of the 45th governor of Louisiana – was ceremoniously pardoned by the lieutenant governor, Billy Nungesser, on the Louisiana capitol steps. “He will live out his life without any threat of being thrown like a football or being part of jambalaya or boudin in someone’s kitchen here in Louisiana,” Nungesser said referring to two po[CENSORED]r dishes that contain sausage. While beads, stuffed animals and hand-decorated souvenirs are frequently catapulted through the air during carnival season in Louisiana, pigs are not among those items.

The piglet’s journey to a new home began earlier this month when a bystander noticed men in a park, not far from a Mardi Gras parade, throwing “what appeared to be a mini-football” to one another and laughing, according to the Humane Society of Louisiana. As the bystander approached they could hear squealing and realized the object flying through the air was a piglet. The bystander approached the men and asked for custody of the terrified animal. “The rowdiness, endless parades, and party-like atmosphere often lend themselves to questionable behavior – like how three grown men behaved a few days ago,” the Humane Society said in a social media post. The piglet, who is expected to grow to be 80lb (36kg), has since been adopted by the state representative Lauren Ventrella and will live on a farm in the Capitol region. “As a Republican, sometimes we like to cut the pork,” Ventrella said, alluding to Republicans’ reputed conservative approach to fiscal spending. “But, I will tell you this is the pork we won’t be cutting.”

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/28/new-orleans-piglet-rescue-mardi-gras