NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The Humane Society of Louisiana is now looking into reports of piglets being handed out to partiers on Mardi Gras Day in the Marigny neighborhood.
“It’s a terrible way to giveaway a live animal to a perfect stranger. Anything can happen,” Humane Society of Louisiana Director Jeff Dorson said.
Leaders with the Humane Society of Louisiana say pigs are not party favors.
“It’s a bad idea for pigs. A bad idea for people getting the pigs,” Dorson said.
This after several reports of multiple piglets being handed out to random to folks in the Marigny on Mardi Gras Day.
“It is hard to understand why people would do that. Who’s going to get the pigs? We don’t know if the people can take care of them, and they don’t know what to do if they can’t take care of them,” Dorson said.
He said pigs as pets are a huge responsibility.
“They can live up to 20 years. A few second interaction, you are giving someone a wonderful animal, and you can’t make that spontaneous decision on the street like that. Remember these types of animals can be expensive,” he said.
Orleans Parish even has ordinances on keeping them.
“As far as I can tell, Algiers and Gentilly are the only areas that allow pigs, but these are old ordinances that haven’t been updated,” he said.
Dorson believes the pig the organization rescued after being tossed around like a football was one of the pigs being given away, so this pig problem, is a big problem.
“Please contact us so we can find a farm or large area that can take care of them,” he said.
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