Hank Clemmons, a proud owner of two pot-bellied pigs, received a letter from Garden Grove last year that instructed him to remove the animals from his home within two weeks.
He has kept Peppa, 5, and Willow, 4, as pets and considers them part of his family.
But as a neighbor’s complaint revealed to him, Garden Grove considers pot-bellied pigs as livestock, not pets, and bans residents from owning them.
Clemmons launched an online petition in December that called on the city to lift the ban, an effort that collected more than 1,500 signatures. Clemmons also met with members of the Garden Grove City Council in hopes that he could keep his pets rather than sell his home to move somewhere else where they are allowed.
All the advocacy appears to have to paid off.
On Tuesday, the City Council moved forward with changing its law to allow residents to keep pot-bellied pigs as pets subject to certain regulations.
“They are amazing animals,” Clemmons told the council. “It’s not like going to a petting farm and seeing pigs. [They] are more like dogs.”
Councilmember George Brietigam requested the changes to the city’s law after meeting with Clemmons and his pets.
“I got to meet the two pot-bellied pigs in question and they’re just adorable,” he said. “By voting yes on this, we’re not saying all pigs are allowed in Garden Grove. It’s a very specific Vietnamese pot-bellied pig that we’re allowing that has been bred [as] human pets.”
Under proposed regulations, pet owners can only have up to two pot-bellied pigs. Breeding would be banned and the animals would have to be spayed or neutered by two months of age. Pot-bellied pig pets would also have to be current on vaccinations and be leashed when walked.
Pet owners must have a licensed veterinarian remove, cut or file tusks on male pot-bellied pigs older than 2 years down to less than 2 inches.
Other cities in Orange County allow residents to keep pot-bellied pigs as pets.
Anaheim’s ordinance allows for only one such animal per residential lot — a law that changed after about a dozen pot-bellied pigs were marched in front of City Hall by their owners in 1998.
Laguna Hills allows people to own up to two pot-bellied pigs, but requires a 15,000-square-foot residential lot minimum.
“We have such a vibrant and diverse community here in Garden Grove,” said Councilmember Ariana Arestegui. “With that diversity of people also comes a diversity of pets. Times change.”
Councilmember Joe DoVinh said he grew up on a farm in Vietnam with pot-bellied pigs as pets alongside dogs.
“We don’t call them Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs,” he said. “We call them indigenous pigs.”
In the past five years, Garden Grove’s Animal Care Services has impounded five pigs under the ban, three in the last two years alone.
Lindsey Clemmons, Hank’s daughter, pleaded with the council to save Peppa and Willow from a similar fate.
“Taking them away from us wouldn’t just be enforcing a rule,” she said. “It would mean removing them from the only home they’ve known their entire lives.”
The council also received emails in support of keeping the ban. But all seven councilmembers voted to approve a first reading of the changes to the law. A second, procedural vote at a future council meeting will formally adopt them.
“Your story actually helped me a lot,” Councilmember Phillip Nguyen told the Clemmons family. “It’s very sentimental and touched my heart, too.”
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