These little piggies won’t be staying home any more.
Michelle Barclay-Dunbar is living her life-long dream as the proud owner of piglets Lord Chadwick and Lady Marmalade.
And the mum has now made history by getting permission to take them trotting around her neighbourhood, where the siblings now put the oink in Oyne every day.
To be able to take them on walks about the Aberdeenshire village, she had to get approval from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
Michelle, who lives with son Brandyn and their menagerie of rabbits and cats, even had to tell the government body the exact route that would be followed on their outings.
Now she has finally been given the OK to regularly take the porcine pair out on their leads.
Michelle reckons she may be the first person in the county, or even in Scotland, to get such permission.
The certificate lays down some rules, however –
- Only the route agreed may be followed when walking the pigs
- The pigs, while being walked, must be kept separate from all other pigs and livestock
- The pigs, whilst being walked, must be kept under control and on a lead at all times
- The pigs must not be fed any waste food at any time
Snout and about
Michelle now has plans to apply for permission to walk the pets in Inverurie, where her mum lives.
She said: “To get permission for Oyne, I had to tell them where my routes would be, where I would take them, and not deviate from that.
“Eventually, after a lot of phone calls, I managed to resolve everything and got sent a certificate saying I was allowed to walk the pigs.
“We definitely turn heads walking through the village.”
Michelle says the pigs “absolutely love” their daily outings.
She added: “We had been practising with the harnesses in the house, but didn’t know how it would be out in public with all the cars and other animals.
“I can tell they are enjoying getting to go around, their tails go all curly when they are happy.
“They are living their best life.”
Tribute to superhero movie star
Lady Marmalade was named as part of a competition among Michelle’s friends and Lord Chadwick was named after late Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman, who little Brandyn was a big fan of.
That’s not their only showbiz connection though, they are the litter of a pig which made an appearance on the hit TV show Game of Thrones.
Michelle’s piglets are not the only unusual animals to be taken out and about on walks by their owners, you can have a read about a few more below –
Walk on the wild side: Lion on a leash among unusual pets taken out across Scotland
