AURORA | A stray hog that went on a rooting rampage through the city of Aurora last month has found a new home as the boar-in-residence for Eads High School’s Future Farmers of America program.
Nicknamed “Fred” by the Aurora Animal Shelter employees who looked after the animal after he was wrangled in central Aurora, the pig will be used to teach high schoolers about animal husbandry and the proper care of livestock.
“I feel bad for whoever let him go or lost him,” said Justin Lenox, the FFA advisor and an agricultural education teacher at Eads High School. “He’s got a really cool personality for a pig, that’s for sure. He’s a big old pet. The kids have gotten to go out, and meet him, and feed him. And he gets treats. He’s doing great.”
The City of Aurora began receiving calls about a pig wandering near traffic and digging up landscaping on Sept. 24. Aurora Animal Services field supervisor Augusta Allen said that, comparing the locations of the calls, Fred hoofed it at least 10 miles before he was captured near Alameda Parkway and Chambers Road three days later.
The shelter tried in vain to find Fred’s owner before seeking out rescues and other facilities capable of providing a safe home for a pig of Fred’s size. Shelter employees estimated the animal weighed between 400 and 600 pounds at the time he was caught.
Based on Fred’s friendly temperament and the lack of markings that might flag him as part of a commercial livestock operation, Allen and others have speculated that Fred was someone’s pet before he broke loose or was abandoned in the Aurora area.
“Where he came from is still a big mystery, but they obviously gave him a lot of attention,” Allen said. “I grew up on a pig farm, and they’re not always the friendliest creatures, but he was literally like a roll-over-and-scratch-my-belly kind of dog.”
Lenox — who started helping out on his grandfather’s farm as a young child and today works at the high school serving about 46 students in rural eastern Colorado — said he was on his way home from a livestock sale when his father shared a news story with him about Fred.
Lenox emailed the Aurora shelter, who sent a representative to tour the facilities at Eads High School. Finally, on Oct. 13, Lenox and one of his students drove to Aurora to transport Fred to his new home.
The Eads High School teacher said one of Fred’s jobs will be helping identify when the program’s seven female pigs are in heat. Boars grunt and show other characteristic behaviors when they sense a fertile female. Besides taking care of pigs, Eads FFA students also have the opportunity to raise crops in a garden and get experience working with a small commercial herd of goats.
“It’s a lot of hands-on learning,” Lenox said. “And we try to teach our kids life skills. We know not every kid is going to go into production agriculture, but if they get to experience it, they’ll at least know if they like it or not. That’s part of what our job is, to give them those experiences outside of the classroom so they can get an idea of what they want to do in their future.”
Allen said the Aurora shelter received calls from several people interested in adopting Fred but decided the Eads program would be a safe place for the pig while also offering an educational opportunity for teens interested in careers in agriculture.
Information about animals available for adoption through the Aurora Animal Shelter is available at https://ow.ly/gV3y50PTbej.
Fred had a space at a sanctuary and for unknown reasons wasn’t placed there. Fred should be freed to Chris P’s Rescue and Rehabilitation. They have space for him. https://www.facebook.com/chrispsminipigrandr
Placing him back in the agricultural system he escaped from is a tragedy. Shame on Aurora Animal Shelter and anyone else involved.
I agree. 4-H slaughters their animals for food. If he rolls over for belly rubs he was raised as a pet. Shame on the shelter sending him to be used for breeding so they can send pigs to slaughter. Someone should have fought for his freedom!
Shame on Aurora Shelter! SHAAAAAAMMMME!
Fred belongs in a sanctuary, not in a space of animal exploitation.
In 4-H Fred will become food for many.
Fred is a pet; he should not be treated like a pork chop!