By Nakayla McClelland
Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque police on Tuesday detained an unusual suspect — a domesticated pig — following a chase alongside Interstate 40.
The oink-er has since been turned over to the Animal Welfare Department to be claimed by his owner or otherwise adopted to a loving home.
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The hoof-chase happened around 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Dash cam video posted Wednesday to Facebook by the Albuquerque Police Department showed an officer saying “I have the coolest freaking job” as she pulled up to assist other officers along I-40. Ahead of the officer’s SUV, a black and gray speckled pig could be seen running full-bore up the offramp toward Carlisle.
The video then cuts to lapel footage of officers sprinting after the pig — circus music playing over the chase — who outmaneuvers an initial would-be captor and turns to head back toward I-40.
Officers temporarily blocked traffic to give chase and several officers cornered the pig, now named Parrot, against a wall as he squealed and tried to escape.
“Open up the back of your unit,” an officer in the video says as the pig wriggles in his arms. Two officers high-fived to celebrate the capture after detaining the porker in the back of an SUV.
Lt. Ramon Candelaria, a field lieutenant with the Animal Welfare department, said he was able to pick up the pig shortly after police caught him.
“I put a little leash on it and put it in the back of my unit,” he said.
Social media users speculated that Parrot was a javelina, a member of the peccary family, but Candelaria said APD officers would not have been able to capture Parrot if that was the case.
“That officer would not be able to touch him in the way he did,” Candelaria said. “Pigs are real funny. When you touch them, they’ll squeal bloody murder but this guy has been handled a lot.”
Candelaria said the pig was likely domesticated because he loves to be scratched and petted. Animal Welfare scanned Parrot for a microchip and it came up negative.
“With all the publicity, I’m shocked nobody has come forward to say ‘hey, that’s my guy,” he said.
Candelaria believes the pig fell out of a livestock truck while being transported, which landed him near the highway. He said it is not uncommon to see animals like porcupines or badgers near the highway, but this is the first time he has secured a pig near I-40.
Parrot the pig is currently at the city’s Westside Animal Shelter and is available for adoption, although he does have a priority hold. Parrot’s future owner will be able to pick him up as soon as Monday. The shelter believes Parrot is roughly one year old and weighs about 50 pounds.
According to Animal Welfare Marketing Manager Desiree Cawley, the shelter did not receive any 311 calls about the pig and an owner has not been identified.
The shelter placed Parrot on a three-day hold to see if anyone would take ownership of the pig.
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