DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The owner of a 240-pound pig found rooting near I-95 in Daytona Beach has been located.
Daytona Beach police said Thomas Armitage, of Edgewater, was transporting the pig, named Bacon, on Wednesday when it somehow escaped.
Officers found the pig on I-95 around 6 p.m. Thursday after receiving an animal complaint call. The American Yorkshire pig had no fear of humans, making it easy for officers to detain it with a lead rope until animal control officers arrived.
"We had a welded pen, wrapped in a chain-link fence, wrapped in chicken wire, and Bacon decided that he wasn't going to stay in that pen and jumped out on 95," Armitage said.
Armitage said Bacon was actually on the way to become bacon and probably knew it was coming.
"He's headed to the house up there, but that's the purpose of raising him though," Armitage said.
Bacon is one of two pigs, originally part of a Future Farmers of America project, but Bacon couldn't participate because of a split hoof.
"We took him to the house and we built a pen for him, we penned him up and kept him over there," Armitage said.
Armitage said they kept him until the pig was ready.
While knowing where Bacon went is tough to swallow, Armitage said it's something folks should understand.
"That's why all the animals are here. Eventually, they're going on someone's dinner table. When you sit down, you know you don't have to worry about toxins, chemicals, or anything inside these animals. Because we raised them," said Armitage.
Armitage told News 6 on Monday he has since given Bacon to the slaughterhouse.
