Escaped Piglets Seen At Town Beach
Thursday, October 6, 2005
14:05 p.m. CST
AP-Iowa Newswire (FAIRFIELD, IA)-Amidst all the recent controversy
about the building of large hog confinements in Jefferson County, a
group of piglets was seen swimming today at Waterworks Park in
Fairfield.
The piglets apparently escaped from a small-operation hog confinement
just north of Fairfield last night. The operator of the confinement
said that a latch became unhinged due to high winds from a severe
thunderstorm.
About 100 piglets escaped and eventually managed to find their way to
the town beach at Waterworks Park. Many of them proceeded to swim
across the lake. Fortunately, there were no swimmers at the beach at
the time.
Jefferson County Animal Control reported that as of 2 p.m., many of
the piglets had been rounded up, though approximately 20 were still on
the loose.
"There was never any danger to the public at large," a spokesperson
for Animal Control said. He added that the owner of the confinement
may be subject to fines, as the piglets were swimming outside the
designated swimming area.