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Deputies Sift For Clues In Pig Stabbings

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 18, 2007

SUN CITY - Clues are scarce in the Sun City Stables pig-sticking case.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies said Monday that they had no suspects in the weekend break-in and stabbing of two pigs in a petting zoo.

'It's a nasty case to do that to animals,' sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said.

One 400-pound pig, named Big Pig, was 'lacerated quite seriously,' Callaway said. The other, a pregnant sow that is expected to give birth next month, also was cut, he said.

A half-dozen other pigs were missing, he said, but deputies were unsure whether they were stolen or escaped into the nearby woods. Initially, the owners of Sun City Stables, 4430 U.S. 41 S., thought as many as 15 pigs were stolen, but on Sunday several wandered back to the pen from the woods.

The intruders pulled open the front gate and drove into the compound, Callaway said. From there, the vehicle pulled up to the pig pen, where the attacks took place as the pigs scattered.

'Cutting an animal like that is just disturbing,' Callaway said.
Deputies with the department's agricultural unit were investigating, he said.
Big Pig was stabbed about 10 times. Two of his wounds were about 2 inches deep, and one stretched 7 inches long. The pregnant pig suffered a gash about 10 inches long and 3 inches deep, running from her back to her belly.
Sun City Stables co-owner Dave Winn was distraught. He said the pregnant pig appeared to be recovering, but Big Pig was having a harder time.

He walked out of the pen, left open late Saturday or early Sunday by the attackers, and 'bedded down under a trailer' on Sunday, Winn said.

'We didn't want to bother him,' Winn said. This morning, he was gone.

He later was found under bushes on the property, Winn said, 'a little bit sluggish.' He got up, walked around and then laid back down again, Winn said.

'It looks mainly like they just came in and cut on these two pigs,' Winn said.

He said nothing like this had happened before at the stables.

'We've had animals stolen before,' Winn said, 'but not somebody come in there and just be cruel.'

It could have been worse, he said. The intruders left the front gate open.

'We have 40 to 50 horses out there,' Winn said. 'They could have gotten out on the highway.'

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at kmorelli@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7760.

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