NJ Shore Resident Gets Interim Reprieve For Her Pet Mini-Pig
By David Madden
SOMERS POINT, N.J. (CBS) -- It's amazing what a Facebook page can do.
A South Jersey woman has -- at least for now -- won a fight to keep her pet pig. And she can credit social media with helping her do that.
Morgan Slaughter was close to having to say goodbye to Sheldon, a miniature pig that has been a family pet since April.
It seems she was violating an ordinance regarding keeping farm animals in private homes. Still, she points out, this particular breed only grows to about 30 lbs., eats out of a bowl twice a day, and walks on a leash. And besides, the ordinance was amended to cover pigs utnil after she already had Sheldon at home.
When Slaughter's (and Sheldon's) case drew the attention of authorities in the seashore town of Somers Point, she put her situation online and got almost 6,000 Facebook "likes" -- including one from a local eight-year-old girl.
Slaughter tells KYW Newsradio, "She approached her dad and said, 'Hey listen, you need to help these people. You're a criminal lawyer.' And I guess she made a comment along the lines of, 'You help bad people stay out of jail all the time. She's a good person -- you need to help her.' "
The lawyer took the case pro bono and got a municipal judge to drop the citation.
Slaughter still has to seek a zoning variance from the town, which might require fencing in her back yard.
But for now, Sheldon's pampered home life is looking brighter.
(See the "Save Our Sheldon" Facebook page)
