Norfolk kids help cops corral runaway piglet

A pair of speedy siblings helped police in Norfolk County catch a piglet that was loose on a rural road near Windham Center on Thursday morning.

Jolene Lauwerier, 10, and her brother Braxton, 13, were getting ready for school when they looked out the window and saw an OPP officer in hot pursuit of the tiny pink escapee.

An OPP spokesperson said “numerous” motorists had seen the piglet “dodging traffic” and called 911.

After a nod from their mother, Miranda, the kids jammed on their shoes and raced outside to help Const. Dave Carvalho.

Braxton and Jolene crossed the road to their neighbor’s yard and spent the next 20 minutes trying to corner the squealing pig as it darted across three adjoining properties.

“We were chasing him all over. I had to stop and catch my breath a few times,” Braxton said.

“It was hilarious watching the three of them in the field,” said Miranda, who was standing by the road to make sure the panicked pig stayed out of traffic.

Finally the kids blocked the piglet in and sent him scurrying toward Carvalho, who scooped him into his arms.

Braxton stayed to comfort the shivering pig and pressed the call button on Carvalho’s radio while the officer kept a firm grip on his four-legged detainee.

Jolene and Miranda soon returned with a leash and pet carrier.

After snapping a few photos, Carvalho took his porcine prisoner to the police station — over the kids’ protests that the plucky piglet should stay with them — while Braxton and Jolene went to Teeterville Public School to tell their friends and teachers what had happened.

“Everybody was laughing,” Braxton said. “We were chasing a pig in our neighbor’s backyard today — that’s why we were late for school.”

On the OPP’s social media, Const. Andrew Gamble thanked “our new friends, and future track stars, Jolene and Braxton … for helping catch ‘the fastest piglet alive.’”

Carvalho later called Miranda to ask if the kids wanted to care for the piglet while the OPP continued to look for his owner.

“Well, we can bring him home and see where it goes from there,” Miranda recalled thinking.

“We didn’t want somebody just to take him for meat, because obviously he has more of a purpose to his life.”

The family named their new adoptee Lucky George.

“Lucky for obvious reasons,” Miranda said.

And George after Peppa Pig’s younger brother from the long-running children’s TV series.

It seems fate had brought Lucky George to their door.

“We kept begging mom and dad to get a pig,” Jolene said.

“So mom and dad said no, and God was just like, ‘You will have a pig,’” Braxton added. “And now we have a pig.”

At least for now.

Lucky George, a Yorkshire pig who could grow to 750 pounds, will soon need a roomier home more fitting his future girth.

“We found him an amazing farm,” Miranda said. “He’s going to be a therapy pig. We helped him, and he’s going to help others.”

Lucky George will live out his days on a farm and animal rescue near Tavistock that provides animal-focused assisted learning experiences.

“We wanted him to just be a pig, and live a regular pig life and roll in the mud and do what they do,” Miranda said.

The family can visit him there, Jolene said, and in the meantime, they are giving George lots of attention and plenty of cuddles to get him socialized.

“He freaked out when we first tried to handle him, but he’s definitely gotten a lot better,” said Braxton.

“He does squeal a bit when you pick him up, but as soon as you hold him close to you, he calms right down,” Miranda added.

When not napping on his new favorite blanket, George spends his time digging in the dirt with his snout, or burrowing into the hay inside the converted dog kennel he calls home.

Rozy, the family dog, is a constant companion, often lying down in the grass beside the piglet inside the hastily constructed enclosure built with fencing borrowed from a neighbor.

“They’ve been nose-booping and hanging out,” Jolene said of the fast friends.

Having lucked into a home with a large garden, Lucky George feasts on squash, tomatillos, apples plucked from the tree and fresh-baked cornbread.

He bunked down in a crate in the family’s mud room overnight on Thursday.

“He slept through the whole night. Not a peep,” Miranda said.

The piglet’s owner has not come forward, and anyone missing a piglet is asked to call police at 1-888-310-1122.

Perhaps the owner is unaware the little piggie went astray, as there were reports on social media of a second piglet found running along Highway 6 that same morning that had evidently fallen off a truck transporting pigs through the county.

The second piglet was reportedly rescued and is doing well.

Jolene and Braxton said there was no question about going to help corral Lucky George, who thanks to their efforts is now looking at a long and happy life.

“He fought too hard to become bacon,” Braxton said.

JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.