‘She’s part of my family’: Kansas boy, 9, is forced to part ways with emotional support for pot-bellied pig ‘Ginger’ after city council says animal can’t live in family home
- Owen Grigoreva, nine, from Newton, feels the weight of the prescription as he and his family prepare to give up his pot-bellied pig, Ginger
- A Newton city ordinance classifies potbellied pigs as livestock and therefore does not allow them to live in normal residences
- City officials said they don’t want to make an exception for Ginger because it would cause chaos for them when other residents request exceptions.
A Kansas boy has to give up his emotional support pig due to a city ordinance that classifies the animal as livestock,
Nine-year-old Owen Grigoreva of Newton feels the weight of the ordinance as he and his family prepare to give up their beloved pig, Ginger.
A Newton city ordinance classifies potbellied pigs as livestock and therefore does not allow them to live in normal residences. Although the Grigoreva family never heard a complaint about the pig or its smell, a neighbor still reported the service animal after seeing it in the family’s yard.
Since then, Owen’s mother, Jessica, has had to appear before the Newton City Commission to defend Ginger and hopefully keep her in the family.
“I had tears, I was really stressed,” Owen said. WIS News. “Please let Ginger stay with us because she’s part of my family.”
Nine-year-old Owen Grigoreva of Newton feels the weight of the prescription as he and his family prepare to give up their pot-bellied pig, Ginger. A Newton city ordinance classifies potbellied pigs as livestock and therefore does not allow them to live in normal residences
“I had tears, I was really stressed out,” Owen said. “Please let Ginger stay with us because she is part of my family”
City officials are toying with the family, telling them they are unwilling to make an exception for Ginger because it would cause chaos for them when other residents request exceptions.
Newton City Commissioner Clint McBroom said he sympathized with the family and even prayed for the decision, but was ultimately unable to budge on the order.
‘[I] tried to come up with a reasonable solution,” McBroom said, according to WIS News. He said he hopes the Grigoreva family can find a place for Ginger to go and visit.
“My heart aches for you, really,” he told them at the reunion.
Mayor Leroy Koehn also backed the city commission saying, “I think for me right now we need to stay the course and not make any changes, but I think we need to think about that in the future.”
A representative from the police department told WIS News that they will help the family find a new home for Ginger.
City officials are toying with the family, telling them they are unwilling to make an exception for Ginger because it would cause chaos for them when other residents request an exception.
Jessica tried to argue at the meeting that ginger should not be considered livestock because pig is not considered food and is much smaller than other pigs.
“It’s not food. They are not the size of an ordinary pig,” she said.
She also argued that they chose a pig as a support animal due to her son’s allergies and that a pot-bellied pig would do better than a dog.
Newton resident Courtney Napier is supportive of the family keeping her pet and said it was “reasonable and fair,” as other cities like Wichita and Lawrence allow them to do.
Another resident, who has not been identified, said Ginger was a perfect opportunity for Newton to become open-minded.
“At a minimum, I think there’s a lot of information we can learn about the potbellied pig before making a final decision,” the resident said.
The family started a Change.org petition to help them save Ginger. He obtained more than 700 of the 1,000 signatures sought in two days.
