Pet Craze Over: Woman Cares For 397 Pigs
Flagler County Woman Rescues Abandoned Animals
Lory Yazurlo's collection began with the once-popular Vietnamese potbellied pigs, which humane society officials worry are making a comeback.
Yazurlo recalled paying $200 each for two of the potbellied pigs when the mania for them was at its height. Now she has so many pigs, she can't take in any more of the animals. Her sanctuary also includes chickens, peacocks and horses.
"Pigs don't do good as house pets," she said. "When there
aren't any other pigs around, they'll start snapping, fighting and
pushing you around. If you try to discipline them like a dog,
they'll bite you.
"If you leave them alone at home, they'll tear the house
apart."
Officials at the Humane Society of the United States are
concerned that the fad is making a resurgence. Since there's no
license or registration required for the potbellied pigs, no one
knows just how many are around, but humane society officials
estimate that millions of the adopted pigs were later abandoned.
"They were touted as something that could live in your house,"
said Richard Farinato, the humane society's director of captive
wildlife protection. "But a pig is a pig is a pig ... Keeping them
in a house is next to impossible."
Yazurlo, 37, watches over the collection from a deck overlooking
the sanctuary. Big Red, an 800-pound Hampshire, wallows in mud.
Bacon, a Vietnamese potbellied pig, sits beside Yazurlo's chair. A
number of them bask beneath a school bus decorated with the bumper
sticker "Meat is Murder."
Yazurlo, who was injured in a car accident in 1991, bought her
20-acre spread in western Flagler County thinking she'd open a
horse farm.
Instead, her sister gave her a pig for Christmas, and Pig Tales
Sanctuary was born.
When she wheels around the property outfitted with shelters
including a camper, a long line of pigs forms behind her.
Her boyfriend or court-ordered community service workers usually
help her with the daily feedings but she's also able to open the
100-foot gate to the feeding pen on her own.
Many of the pigs are victims of misfortune: one has a broken
pelvis and spinal cord injury. Others are typical pigs but their
owners found they couldn't care for an 800-pound creature in their
home.
She gets discounted veterinary services, but the $1,000-a-month
feeding costs are hard for the Yazurlo, who relies on disability
checks and insurance payments. She receives about $600 a month in
donated produce.
Copyright 2003 by Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.






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