Police shoot pet pig after attempted attack

Middletown police fatally shot a pet pig after it became aggressive and attempted to bite a responding officer.

Police responded to the 1500 block of Jackson Lane around 3:22 p.m. Tuesday on the report of a wild vicious animal. Once on scene, police found a pig weighing about 30 pounds with a leash around its neck, according to a police report.

A 16-year-old neighbor told police the pig attempted to bite him when he went to pick it up to take it back to its owner’s house. The bite did not pierce the skin.

Police said the pig was foaming at the mouth, a sign of rabies, and that it attempted to attack an officer several times. Police held onto the pig’s leash, but the pig moved from side-to-side aggressively, pulling on the leash and squealing, according to a police report.

An officer then shot the pig behind the head area.

The Health Department was notified.