Oink is home: How cheese puffs helped reunite lost pig with its owner after devastating tornado

Ashley R. Williams, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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One not-so-little piggy has found her way home after the devastating tornadoes that swept through Mississippi last month.

Amory resident and nurse Sandra Koenig says her 275-pound pig, Oink, escaped the yard when severe weather damaged her fenced-in area.

“Without a fence, Oink kind of wandered off,” Koenig told USA TODAY. “She doesn't wander far, she’s not fast, so she wandered a street over.”

Koenig and her husband, Jonathan, are pet lovers and longtime members of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The ASPCA team and Sandra Koenig, right, pose with Oink the pig after her successful return to her owner in Amory, Mississippi.
The ASPCA team and Sandra Koenig, right, pose with Oink the pig after her successful return to her owner in Amory, Mississippi.

When Oink got away, the ASPCA had been on the ground for three weeks in Amory, population 7,000, to help the city’s animal control and Humane Society.

The organizations worked to shelter pets that were displaced after the tornadoes and to find homes for adoptable animals, ASPCA disaster response director Susan Anderson said.

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"It's going to take quite some time for that community to rebuild," Anderson told USA TODAY.

Oink was one of more than 600 animals the ASPCA helped, Anderson said.

Fortunately for Koenig’s family, ASPCA members had recognized the potbellied pig the Humane Society had picked up, because they had visited Koenig’s home just a day before to bring food, Koenig said.

“The ASPCA knew who she belonged to, and they knew exactly how to guide her back and get her (home),” Koenig said.

Sandra Koenig's yard in Amory, Mississippi, was badly damaged after tornadoes ripped through the area last month.
Sandra Koenig's yard in Amory, Mississippi, was badly damaged after tornadoes ripped through the area last month.

Lost and found

Koenig, her mother, husband and two dogs went to a nearby hotel to ride out the tornadoes on March 24. They left Oink at home because she was too heavy to bring along, Koenig said.

“We couldn't see because it was so dark and there were no lights,” she said. The family had to dodge trees before safely reaching the hotel, which had no electricity.

They returned home to find their yard scattered with piles of debris, a destroyed fence, no running water and no power. Without the fence to contain her, Oink had wandered away, Koenig said.

A couple of hours later, a City of Amory Animal Control officer found her walking around a nearby residential area.

“He was able to wrangle her, because she's a very large girl, get her securely in his van and transport her to the Humane Society to keep her safe and sound until her people could be identified,” Anderson said.

Oink got to pig out on her favorite snack, cheese puffs, as ASPCA workers and Sandra Koenig helped her into the transport van that would return her home.
Oink got to pig out on her favorite snack, cheese puffs, as ASPCA workers and Sandra Koenig helped her into the transport van that would return her home.

A happy reunion

Though the team quickly identified Koenig as Oink’s owner, getting the large pig home proved challenging.

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“We helped get Oink loaded into the back of a transport vehicle, which we did with the help of Sandra, to be able to transport her back to her house,” Anderson said.

To get her into the van, they fed Oink her favorite treat – cheese puffs. “It sure worked,” Koenig said.

The pig hadn’t enjoyed the snack in months because of her vet-recommended diet plan.

“There's no way I could have gotten Oink to a car, picked her up or made her walk a certain direction,” Koenig said. “The ASPCA knew what they were doing.”

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lost pig reunited with owner in Mississippi after tornadoes: Good news