Vic: Three little pigs to stay in house of bricks
By Barbara Adam
GISBORNE, Vic, April 23 AAP - Three not-so-little pigs have defied some legal huffingand puffing and won the right to remain in their own home.
The house, made of bricks, belongs to Maggie and Neil Park, owners of the 200 kg-apieceOliver, Lily and Lucy.
Neighbours had taken the family to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal,claiming the pigs were smelly and noisy.
The tribunal ruled that Mr and Mrs Park didn't need a special permit to keep theirpigs, who have their own bedroom with a pig flap, as well as a playpen in the backyard.
Mrs Park today said the family would have moved from their 1.2 hectare Gisborne property,about 50km north of Melbourne, if the tribunal had ordered them to get rid of their pigs.
"They're a part of our family," she said. "You don't get rid of your kids."
She said the pigs weren't smelly and were better company than many people she knew.
"I'd prefer to have my pigs in my house than many people I've had or a lot of kids- they're noisy and messy," she said.
While stopping short of recommending pigs as pets and ruling out any future human orporcine additions to the family, Mrs Park said she loved her "children".
"They don't look up to you, they don't look down on you, they just treat you as a peer,"
said Mrs Park, who has applied to become a police officer.
"They're just good company - I can't really explain it, I just have an affinity with them."
The affinity extends to the Parks' bedroom, where Lucy, a three-year-old black pigwho's the devil of the trio, hops up on the bed to watch television.
Mrs Park said Lucy was quite relaxed about what's on the box and to date there hadbeen no arguments over who has the remote control.
With the legal challenge - the latest in a series of protests from neighbours - outof the way, the Parks can turn their attention to Oliver's rehabilitation program.
Oliver, the four-year-old pink and ginger pig, has lost his balance after a middle-ear infection.
Mrs Park took Oliver to Queensland in a horse float for a CAT scan to determine thecause of his condition.
The CAT scan couldn't be conducted in Victoria because there wasn't a machine big enough.
With the results of the brain scans and some video footage of his gait and eye movements,Mrs Park began consulting human ear, nose and throat specialists and neurosurgeons foradvice.
Finally she tracked down a woman in South Australia who ran dizziness and balance clinics,who was able to devise a rehabilitation program for her pet pig.
AAP bja/gfr/jnb/sb
KEYWORD: PIGS NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)
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