A pot-bellied pig in Brule, N.S., had to be rescued from rising floodwaters by the Tatamagouche Volunteer Fire Department this weekend.
Pourquoi the pig became stranded by rising water in the garage where he was being kept.
“I strapped on my snow shoes to check on Pourquoi and heard him screaming,” said his owner, Hannah Hunziker. She called the Tatamagouche Volunteer Fire Department.
“We got out of the fire truck (Saturday) and jumped into two feet of water,” said deputy fire chief Mark Langille.
Six firefighters made their way to the garage and began the struggle to move the unco-operative, 100-kilogram swine. It took an hour to move him 75 metres.
“You couldn’t actually grab the pig for its size and its temperament,” Langille said.
His owner says he would have died in the water. Fast-melting snow caused the flood, which has prevented Hunziker from using her car for four days.
“I’ve lived here for 16 years, and it’s never happened,” she said.
Langille said he has been touring the waterways in the Tatamagouche area to check on the potential for flooding. He is particularly concerned about hilly areas like Nutby and Tatamagouche Mountains.
“There’s a lot of snow down here,” Langille said. “There’s twice as much up there, and it’s all got to come down.”
He said he is worried about the roads ambulances, police and fire crews will have to use.
“Some of the roads are now impassable and there’s not a lot we can do about it,” he said.
Langille said there will be flooding no matter what, but the amount of rain and the speed of the melt will determine how bad it will be.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant
