A pig in the middle of a city, the scene is unusual. Friday December 20, 2024, in Cholet, it is this animal that motorists and pedestrians encounter at the corner of rue du Carteron and avenue Jacques-Chirac, around 5 p.m. Living not far from there, Marcela Bausson, while in the car, saw him for the first time. “He was in the parking lot next to the little stone bridge. » After dropping off her husband, she quickly turns around and parks in the parking lot of the Lycée de la Mode.
A not shy pig
The pork is then avenue Jacques-Chirac. “Two ladies followed him”testifies La Choletaise, member of a stray animal rescue group. Among them, Hélène Proust, also in a car. “I was coming back from the Carteron Post Office when I saw an animal scampering around, and it wasn’t a dog. » In this case, a not shy pig. “He was coming towards us. » The animal, castrated and tail docked as in breeding farms, seems accustomed to humans.
Taken by passers-by
The municipal police alerted, the animal still had to be kept until its arrival, under the stunned gaze of passers-by. “People stopped to take photos”says Hélène Proust. “We tried to keep him at a garden level, but he was leaving. » A man tries to put a leash on him, without success. It is Marcela Bausson who achieves this. “This is the first time I walked a pig on a leash”she laughs.
Amused police officers
Two police officers in a van with a cage finally show up. “They were very amused by the situationrelates Hélène Proust. They had already dealt with a cow, a goat, but never a pig. » Marcela Bausson helps them get the animal into the cage. “I was pushing from my butt. I closed the cash register, on the fingers of a policeman. » Picked up, the vagrant is taken to the pound, which is managed by the SPA. An association is being sought to accommodate it.
