A Burton-on-Trent couple have started legal proceedings against a micro-pig breeder for supplying them with an African elephant. The buyers purchased the ‘pig’ in good faith, only for the animal’s growth spurt to kick in until it grew to a full sized bull elephant.
“We started off with it in the kitchen where it had a cat basket in the corner but it quickly outgrew that. It dawned on us that we may have bought a pig in a poke when we got home from the chippy and found it with the kitchen door around its neck after trying to squeeze through the cat-flap” said a disgruntled Maureen Connor.
After calling in the local vet to remove the back door he confirmed that they had bought an elephant.
“We were gutted,” said David Connor in a statement to his local newspaper ‘The Burton Herald’ “We did think his nose was bit on the long side and the tail not as curly as a regular pig but we thought that was in the breed. But when it drained the bath and catapulted the babby through the window it was the final straw.”
A spokesman from the Burton branch of the RSPCA said, “Elephants are hard work as pets and require more attention than a dog. They need an enriched environment with plenty of space to rummage about in. Another major drawback is that they like to be part of a herd and your average semi-detached won’t have this facility.”
In a separate legal battle, next door neighbour, seventy year old Florence Pickering is suing the owners of the ‘micro-pig’ for damages following an incident in which it broke through the living room wall while she was organising an Ann Summers party. “The ladies were initially impressed by the appearance of a large trunk poking through the chimney breast and waving at them, but when it was followed by a ton of throbbing elephant gristle and broken plaster they weren’t amused. I also lost any commission I might have made.”
The public is now being warned against purchasing micro-pigs and other exotics unless they know they are from reputable dealers. A Burton trading standards officer said, “People really need to think twice. Only the other day we had a case of a Nile crocodile being passed off as a crested newt.”
