This little piggy went to New York City

Varaha (Public Domain)

Winston Churchill is said to have once remarked:  I am fond of pigs.  Dogs look up to us.  Cats look down on us.  Pigs treat us as equals.

For whatever the reason, New Yorkers also seem to enjoy their pigs live. The Associated Press reports that although New York City's health code "forbids keeping them as pets," pig-lovers are flouting this regulation.  Brooklyn resident Timm Chiusano keeps "two potbellied pigs on the ground floor of his three-story brownstone…"  Neighbors within Danielle Forgione's Queens

apartment building have been complaining about one-year-old Petey (who, at 40 porky pounds, sleeps in her youngest child's bed).  Even Mayor Bloomberg's daughter couldn't resist the urge to house a pig for a short while (in Gracie Mansion, no less).

New Yorkers (and Winston Churchill) are not alone in their in-fat-uations.  Wikipedia explains that pigs regularly appear within religions, myths, folklore, literature, and idiomatic expressions.  For example, the Hindu god Vishnu "took the form of a four-armed humanoid with the head of a boar named Varaha in order to save the Earth from a

demon…"  The Celts "had a god of swine called Moccus…"  In Germany, pigs are a symbol of good luck. The sow was a favorite animal of the Ancient Greek goddess Demeter.

Given all of this esteemed history, it's no wonder that some New Yorkers are remaining quite pigheaded about their choice of pets.

Resources

http://news.msn.com/us/new-yorkers-boldly-flout-law-to-keep-pigs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigs_in_popular_culture

Copyright April 3, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved