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Public service provides pot-bellied pig owner six-month period to prove porcine companion is no pet

A Winnipeg woman fighting to keep her pot-bellied pig now has six months to prove her illegal porcine pet is in fact a service animal.

West End resident Emily Sydor has argued illegal pet Podgy is a service animal

Bartley Kives · CBC News ·
A temporary permit will allow a Winnipeg woman to keep Podgy in her residence even though pigs are not allowed in non-agricultural zones. (Handout)

A Winnipeg woman fighting to keep her pot-bellied pig now has six months to prove her illegal porcine pet is in fact a service animal.

In August, Winnipeg's animal services ordered Emily Sydor to find a new home for Podgy, her pot-bellied pig. The city agency told her she could not keep a commercial animal in her West End residence and ordered her to find "suitable accommodations" somewhere livestock is allowed.

Sydor appealed the order and appeared twice before city council's protection, community services and parks committee to argue she suffers from mental illness and relies on Podgy to maintain her emotional well-being. 

The appeal hearing was adjourned and was slated to resume this Friday — until animal services chief operating officer Leland Gordon granted Sydor a special, temporary permit to continue housing Podgy.

"Because Ms. Sydor has claimed Podgy is a service animal — according to the human rights code, people are allowed to do that — so we're going to give her an opportunity to demonstrate that Podgy is in fact a service animal," said committee chair Mike Pagtakhan (Point Douglas).

Emily Sydor wants to keep a pet pig for her mental well-being, but hogs aren't allowed as pets in Winnipeg. She now must prove her Podgy is a service animal. (Bartley Kives/CBC)
The permit gives Sydor until Jan. 31 to demonstrate the steps she will take to ensure Podgy becomes a service animal. She then has until June 1 to demonstrate she has in fact taken those steps, Pagtakhan said.

His committee declined to simply allow her appeal, as that would have opened the door for other appeals for people to keep animals that are not allowed as pets under city bylaws.​

To further close the loophole, Pagtakhan said he plans to ask animal services to develop a policy governing service animals.

"We've got to make sure we have a formal policy to deal with service animals, because we don't want to deal with people that are bringing a horse in, or a goat, or other species that aren't allowed in the City of Winnipeg," he said.

The protection, community services and parks committee meets on Friday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bartley Kives

Senior reporter, CBC Manitoba

Bartley Kives joined CBC Manitoba in 2016. Prior to that, he spent three years at the Winnipeg Sun and 18 at the Winnipeg Free Press, writing about politics, music, food and outdoor recreation. He's the author of the Canadian bestseller A Daytripper's Guide to Manitoba: Exploring Canada's Undiscovered Province and co-author of both Stuck in the Middle: Dissenting Views of Winnipeg and Stuck In The Middle 2: Defining Views of Manitoba.

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