| Letter Date: 7/8/07 |
|
| Zipper, potbellied pig who took on City Hall, dies at 14 | |
| By KRISTI PIHL of the Union-Bulletin The chain-link fence encloses a pretty yard with green trees and bushes, in front of a cream-colored house with old-fashioned red shutters. Until last Saturday, it was the home of Zipper, a 14-year-old Vietnamese potbellied pig, whom some may remember as the pig that took on City Hall and won. Zipper died Saturday from kidney failure. Her family had her since she was a piglet small enough even the youngest son, Matt, then 6, could hold in his arms. Her two sons watched ``Reading Rainbow'' after school, said Lori Montgomery, Walla Walla resident. Having seen a segment on farms, including little piglets, both of the boys decided they needed a pig. ``I blame it on PBS,'' Montgomery says with a laugh. Zipper's fight with City Hall started when authorities started looking at stricter enforcement of a 1967 ban of swine in the city because of problems with a 200-pound potbellied pet pig named Girty who roamed the neighborhoods at times, according to a May 1997 U-B article. On April Fool's Day, 1997, Montgomery received a phone call she was sure was a joke. The animal control officer who lived down the street from the Montgomerys told her the family had a couple of weeks to get rid of Zipper, or they could be cited based on an ordinance forbidding pigs in the city limits. Montgomery asked what she could do, and was told she could try to change the ordinance. "(Zipper) became the underdog, and all the neighbors and the people who would come to our yard sales were just rooting for her,'' she said. Those at Berney Elementary School across the street signed a paper in support of Zipper, whom they knew from show-and-tell, but the Montgomerys were told the school's support didn't count, because none of the individuals lived on school grounds. After an encouraging e-mail from some people in Illinois, Montgomery sent a note to a Tri-Cities television station, which came out and did a segment on Zipper. "I think by then City Council was getting frustrated, too,'' Montgomery said. She thinks the Council expected the Montgomerys to just give up. For the Montgomerys, the result of their efforts was the ability to keep Zipper, she said. Chapter 6.19 in the city code stems from the effort by the Montgomerys to keep their beloved pet. In February 1998, City Council passed the revised swine ordinance 6-1. The ordinance allows Vietnamese potbellied and African pygmy pigs to live within the city limits as long as they weigh no more than 150 pounds and are sterilized. Licenses cost $50 for the first year, and $10 each year after that. Councilman Jerry Cummins, who voted against the ordinance, said he still has problems with the rule, because the six-month reprieve owners have to bring the pig back within the weight restrictions could be used instead to bring the pig to marketable weight and there is no agency that determines what qualifies as a miniature pig. "I am not against a person having a pet animal,'' Cummins said. He said he just doesn't think pigs should be raised to a marketable weight in the city. Montgomery thinks there is a stigma around pigs, backed up by phrases such as "dirty as a pig'' and "eating like a pig.'' "Generally they're really clean. They're not going to go and lay in their own mess.'' Someone once asked Montgomery if she had a wallow for Zipper. Her response was, "No way, she wouldn't get in the mud.'' Zipper was easy to train, she said. "In her whole life, she had two accidents in the house. You spank her with the paper and they learn really fast.'' Zipper wouldn't fetch a ball, but she would push a soccer ball around with her snout. Before owning Zipper, Montgomery didn't know about National Pig Day (March 1). She didn't realize how many people in Walla Walla hadn't seen or touched a pig. Like a dog, Zipper was full of unconditional love. Though not a pet for everyone, being similar to a cross between a cat and a mule, miniature pigs like Zipper are funny, Montgomery said. "They're just characters.'' |
|
| Back to News Articles | |
