Police use Oreos to lead Charlotte the pot-bellied pig back home after she ran loose in Middletown

A wayward pig was captured Friday by Middletown police while running loose in a neighborhood.

Dispatchers received a call about the gray and white pig running about 12:30 p.m. around in the area of Casper and Leibee streets. Officer Dennis Jordan, who has some training with animals as a K-9 officer, took the call. The pig was captured and returned to its owner, according to police.

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Jordan said he has lot of experience with hogs because he worked on a farm growing up in Champaign County.

“It was my job to slop (feed) the hogs every morning before school,” Jordan said.

Charlotte the pot-bellied pig was returned to her residence in about 20 minutes after the owners were located and brought her favorite treat of Oreos to the scene.

Jordan could not put the pig in his cruiser because Koda, the police dog, was inside. The pig and dog were “exchanging animal pleasantries the whole time,” he said.

Unfortunately, pot-bellieed pigs are not permitted in the city, so the owners will have to make other arrangements for Charlotte eventually, police said.

“They are new to the city, so I did not cite them for pig running at large,” Jordan said.

Several pictures of the pig and Jordan were posted to the department’s Facebook page.

“We had to take this pig into custody, he was involved in a disturbance…….someone was tryin’ to blow his house down……..,” the department said in a post.

Commenters on the post, predictably, had jokes to make.

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