Woman Claims Pet-Sitter Made Her Pig Fat

A woman wants to file abuse charges against a friend who was pet-sitting for her pig and allowed the animal to get fat.

Michelle Schmitz says her pig, named Alaina Templeton, weighed 50 pounds when she left her with a co-worker who offered to care for the animal in February, when Schmitz went on medical leave to recover from ankle surgeries.

But nine months later, the pig weighed 150 pounds and it took veterinarians 4 1/2 hours to surgically remove the animal's collar.

Officers are now investigating whether Alaina was abused by the sitter's neglect and overfeeding.

Schmitz says she bottle-fed Alaina when she was just 11 days old and kept her on a strict diet to keep her weight at about 50 pounds.

She says when she first tried to get the pig back, the co-worker wouldn't return her calls. When she finally found the woman, she discovered that the pig's neck had grown around her collar and it had trouble breathing.

The pig now wears bandages and is healing from a pressure wound and neck infection.

"That pig is my life," says Schmitz. And to prove it, she has an 'Alaina' tattoo.

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