Exotic Pets Find Homes Through Oxford Lafayette Humane Society

Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society has adopted out thousands of dogs and cats for over 30 years, but not all animals who came through its doors were traditional pets. Recently the shelter found a home for a stray black pot-bellied piglet named Joseph, formerly Josephine.

Joseph the precious pig
Photo courtesy OLHS

The small pig was found wandering near the Highway 7 and 9 intersection. Its rescuer surrendered it to OLHS assuming the male piglet was a female.

“So we put the name in the computer as ‘Josephine,'” said Jennifer Petermann, OLHS director. “And after further investigation” – she chuckled – “it was discovered that Josephine is Joseph.”

OLHS called its local vets and posted on social media to see if Joseph was a lost pet. The piglet enjoyed its stay at the shelter for five days, enough time for possible owners to reclaim. Petermann said he liked to walk around the dog kennels and scratch his back on the fences.

(picture of Joseph in dog bed provided by OLHS with the caption: “Joseph loves one thing almost as much as he for dog treats: dog beds.)

Joseph’s stay was brief as Gina McCormick, a emergency medical technician at Horn Lake Animal Hospital, adopted him Wednesday night. She showed up with a pet carrier lined with a soft sheet for Joseph to nestle in.

Joseph with Gina McCormick
Photo courtesy OLHS

“I have two pot-bellied pigs, a year and a half each.” said McCormick who lives on an acre and half of land with plenty of room for the piglet to grow, scratch his back and snuffle for treats.

Joseph was the first pot-bellied pig that the shelter adopted out, but he was not the first exotic pet OLHS offered for adoption.

“Before Christmas we had two hamsters and several rabbits,” said Petermann.

The shelter is well-equipped to ensure the exotic pets have a good home. In addition to a good relationship with the local vets the shelter workers have some exotic pets of their own. Petermann said that one of the workers, a man namved David, would sometimes bring his pet rat in his pocket.

Currently the shelter has a Beta fish up for adoption. The fish was given to them by a young girl who was not ready to take care of it. The small magenta fish can be found in the shelter’s conference room.

Petermann remembers a humorous story of a person who brought several exotic pets to the shelter last spring.

Callie Daniels is a staff reporter for HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at callie.daniels@hottytoddy.com.