STERLING, Conn. — Pigs and cows have had residents in the small town ofSterling squealing, but not for joy.
The grass on their lawns and backyards has been completely destroyed by pigs that escaped from a nearby farm.
“I’ve seen more pigs than deer!” said Michael Grenier of Sterling.
Grenier lived on Pine Hill Road in Sterling, a residential area that is connected to the woods.
Instead of seeing the typical wildlife, pigs started appearing outside of his home at the end of September.
“I looked out my front windows and go, ‘aaah what is that?!’ “ added Grenier.
From Sept. 30 to last month, multiple pigs have visited Grenier’s front lawn and backyard. They left damages worth approximately $23,000.
In October, Grenier had the black, Mulefoot pigs on his property every day for two weeks. They were just some of the animals that escaped from Radical Roots Farm.
“I saw six to eight pigs that were rooting up my front lawn,” added Grenier.
Grenier said the pigs are unapproachable. They would scurry away and victimize his neighbors’ homes down the road.
After the first two incidents, the owner of the farm visited Grenier’s home to try and remedy the situation, but as the pigs came back to leave more damage, Grenier said he had not seen or heard from the owner.
“I don’t know of any instance that he has accepted responsibility. It’s always somebody else’s fault. It’s someone cut my fence, someone was shooting my animals, somebody left my gate open,” added Grenier.
However, according to Sterling First Selectman Link Cooper, animals have been running loose from the farm for almost two and a half years. It is also not just pigs, but cows too.
“You have 30 cows or 35 cows, full size, 12-hundred pound cows going down a 25-foot wide road…you just figure that one out,” said First Selectman Link Cooper.
The Department of Agriculture is now investigating in hopes a resolution can finally be reached.
“It was in the bright daylight so I had no trouble seeing them, but I mean if that were at night and I don’t even know if pigs roam at night. I really don’t know that but the potential there is serious,” added Cooper.
Grenier said he and others are considering filing a civil lawsuit amid all of this.
FOX61 also reached out to the farm by email and have not yet heard back.
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