The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Village ‘picks on’ pot-belly Ellie
ANew York man is fighting to keep a pig he says is his emotional support animal. Wyverne Flatt said Ellie the Vietnamese pot-bellied pig is family to him.
Officials in the village of Canajoharie in New York state say the pig is a farm animal being kept illegally.
Mr Flatt’s battle has caught the attention of pig partisans who believe the animals should be respected more as companions instead of just a food source.
Mr Flatt – whose case could go to trial next month and says he suffers from anxiety – said Ellie helped him through a divorce and the death of his mother.
“I could never dream of giving away somebody who’s part of my family,” Mr Flatt said as he patted the 110lb pig in his kitchen.
“She’s very smart. She’s more intelligent than my dogs.
“I think she can kind of hone in on you when you’re feeling bad because she’ll want to come in and snuggle with you.”
Mr Flatt, 54, was living in South Carolina when he got the pig in 2018, when she was “about as big as a shoe”. The pig is now knee-high.
She came north with Mr Flatt in 2019 when he moved to Canajoharie.
Mr Flatt, 54, bought a fixer-upper near the business centre of the village.
A village code officer told Mr Flatt he was housing Ellie illegally in October 2019 during a visit for a building permit request.
When the village noticed Ellie was still there six months later, Mr Flatt was formally notified he was violating the local code barring farm animals in the village.
Both sides have dug in since then.
Mr Flatt said the village is picking on his pig, which he says is clean and clever. Several of his neighbours have signed affidavits saying they like Ellie.
But a lawyer for the village wrote in a court filing that the pig is a potential public health hazard.
She argued that if “every citizen were to openly scoff at the village zoning codes. We would live in a lawless society”.
Ellie’s fate could hinge on federal housing guidance that says municipalities should provide a “reasonable accommodation” when a person can demonstrate an animal provides emotional support for a disabilityrelated need.