Pigs fly into animal shelter

Five stray pigs, including two Captain Cookers and a kune kune piglet named Flo, have been brought into the animal shelter in the past few weeks.

Christchurch City Council shelter staff say this run of little, and not so little, pigs is very unusual. One of the recent arrivals was a 100kg kune kune who had to be loaded into the animal control vehicle using a ramp and pulleys.

Senior Animal Management Officer Bill Kohi said kune kunes were now popular as pets and sometimes people would get a piglet and abandon them later when they grew too large and difficult to look after. "On average we usually get about one pig a month so there's definitely been an increase lately to have five in just a couple of weeks. Kune kune are the most popular and they're the main ones that we get."

Staff at the Bromley animal shelter have found a new owner for two-month-old kune kune Florence, who Mr Kohi said was intelligent and social.

While the shelter is known for housing stray dogs, livestock is not uncommon. There are about 20 hens at the shelter and Mr Kohi said sometimes a wild peacock from Banks Peninsula finds its way into the hill suburbs and is picked up by animal control staff.

Goats, sheep and even horses are regularly brought into the shelter after being found wandering on suburban streets. Recently two calves were found by police officers running down Prestons Road, Mr Kohi said. A paddock across the road from the shelter is used to house larger livestock until they are claimed or new homes found for them.

There are plans to build a new enclosure designed for pigs.