By Julia Train
Over the weekend, the Original Egg Harbor Township Area Happenings 08234 Facebook group was buzzing about a loose pig traveling through Egg Harbor Township, Mays Landing and the Atlantic City Expressway.
The pig, now called “Miles” because he “traveled for miles and miles,” is captured and safe.
Miles was first spotted and posted to the Facebook group on March 6 at 5:27 p.m. around the area of LaCosta Lakes in Egg Harbor Township.
Later that evening, Katie Bozarth Jones, a member of the group and one of the women who helped capture him, posted that Miles was bedded down behind a neighbor’s house in thick leaves and bamboo.
Jones said, “I had it caught with a leash but it pulled out of it because he’s strong and huge.”
She fed him vegetables and reached out to Eastern Snouts Adoption and Rehoming, a nonprofit that helps lost or displaced pigs find homes. The organization sent a volunteer to meet up and help Jones at 1 a.m.
They were able to get him into the kennel, but he broke free.
“The pig was pushing through the bottom of the kennel, making it too difficult to lift and transport, and it became unsafe for the pig. We called [Egg Harbor Township Police] to simply help us secure the kennel and lift it into the truck but it was determined the pig was too strong and heavy for all of us and the police called animal control to assist,” said Jones. “Unfortunately, animal control was unable to secure the pig either due to his strength and size. And that’s when it broke loose from all of us.”
The only sighting reported to the Facebook group the following day, March 7, was on Dogwood Avenue at 5:56 p.m. He was spotted again in the same area on March 8 at 7:30 a.m.
From there, he traveled near Guitar Center off the Black Horse Pike in Mays Landing, then headed eastbound on the Atlantic City Expressway and exited to wander around English Creek.
At 5:18 p.m., he was in Delilah Oaks. Around 40 minutes later, at 5:56 p.m., Miles was sighted around Dogwood Avenue again.
Around 8:30 p.m., Miles was captured around Kingsley Drive by 10 local women. Alongside Jones, Melanie Nacion, Pat Kagan, Becky Kopf, Lisa Trazzera, Gina Marie Burnetter, Tracy Simoncini, Anna Kulczycki, Lindsay Tomar and Brianna Perciallia helped capture the pig.
While Jones and the volunteer weren’t prepared for how large and strong the pig was on Thursday night when they tried to capture him, that wasn’t the case this time.
“When we caught him the second time on Saturday night, we were fully prepared and had a much stronger, secure kennel to lure him into that he could not break out of,” she said.
Eventually, he was so tired he collapsed behind a house to sleep, but when a dog spooked him, he went further into the woods to lie down. After climbing through trees and brush, the women were able to surround and capture the pig.
With the help of Eastern Snout, Miles was briefly put in a foster home before receiving care, where he also escaped his enclosure, but was kept on the property by outdoor fencing.
The 100-pound potbelly pig was determined to be an unfixed male, around 4 or 5 years old.
Now, Miles is spending time rehabilitating at Cape Veterinary Hospital in Cape May Court House. Once neutered and healthy, Miles will be available to be adopted as a pet.
While the pig’s origins are unknown, the rescuers estimated that he had been wandering around the area days before the first posting on social media — between seven and 10 days — and traveled 12 miles in the last 48 hours of his journey.
