Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

NNSL (Apr 06/99) - There's a 500 pound porker on the loose in Yellowknife and she's been turning heads and stopping traffic along Kam Lake Road.

The Debogorski family keeps the big sow as a pet and her owners say she's not quite sure if she should bark or squeal.

"I think she thinks she's a dog," says Louise Debogorski. "She's got a great personality."

They got the pig when Louise's husband, Alex, returned from a trip south, to visit family, she said.

"We've had her for four years now -- she was just a little piglet when we got her, now she's over 500 pounds."

The family has never really given much thought to naming the big sow, she said.

"The kids call her Oink," she laughed. "She's either called 'Oink' or 'Pig,'" Louise said.

Oink has always been a bit of an adventurous spirit, she said.

"We've had her penned-up from time to time, and she usually stays put," she said. "She just likes to go out for the odd stroll."

"It gets worse in the spring and summer," she added. "She gets more of a sense of adventure."

Debogorski said the wandering pig is usually just looking for a bite to eat.

"She's a true pig -- she gets well-fed, but she's always on the hunt for more food," she said.

The calls usually come in when the pig wanders out into the world, but she usually finds her way back before the search is mobilized.

"She usually goes for her stroll and gets people all excited and then comes home," she said. "By the time we get the information and send someone out, she's usually on her way home."

The pig also makes quite a watch dog for unwary visitors, Debogorski said.

"We came home to find these two people up on the landing," she recalled. "I said, 'I wonder what they're doing up there.'"

"Then I looked and the pig was at the bottom of the stairs -- she had them treed at the top of the stairs."

Oink has become quite a tourist attraction around the neighbourhood, too, Debogorski said.

"The Japanese tourists love her," she smiled. "They go down the street to see Grant Beck's dogs and notice the pig."

"They're quite thrilled by her and take lots of pictures," she added. "She's just a big old pet."

A watchdog, a tourist attraction, a pet and even transportation are just some of the functions the multi-functional hog serves.

"The little ones like to ride her, but she doesn't like it much," she said. "She squeals and moans and groans and the kids think it's funny."

Constable Doug Gillard with the Municipal Enforcement Division says there isn't much he can do to prevent the renegade pet from wandering.

"There is no city bylaw in place regarding that type of animal," he said. "I do believe there is a Territorial Act regulating it, but it wouldn't be our jurisdiction to enforce it," Gillard said Monday after the pig had been making her way down Kam Lake Road.

Gillard said his main concern is to keep the pig off the road as it is a danger to itself and motorists.

"We've contacted the owner to let him know and we've scared it off the road, because it could get hit."

"All we have is a dog bylaw, which specifically targets dogs only," Gillard said. "There are cats, geese, this pig, and horses, but nothing is regulated by us other than dogs."

The constable has been dealing with this lawless pig for over three years now, he said. He's even tried rounding it up.

"I tried to catch it about a year and a half ago, I put a lasso around its' neck and it dragged me around the yard for a while, before I finally let it go," he recalled with a laugh.

So if you see a big black pig walking along Kam Lake Road, slow down and yield the right of way to Oink, she's probably on her way home for dinner.