Escaped pigs causing thousands of dollars in damage for Connecticut residents
By Luke Hajdasz
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STERLING, Connecticut (WFSB) — There is a pig problem in Sterling.
A drove of the animals escaped from a local farm, causing issues for neighbors in the rural Eastern Connecticut town on the Rhode Island border.
“I have nothing against this person except he has been a very, very poor neighbor. And it is time to pay the piper,” said Link Cooper, Sterling First Selectman (R), Michael Grenier.
“You can see here that these are not small patches,” added Michael Grenier, Sterling.
Michael Grenier’s yard is a mess, and it’s not his fault.
“It is not only frustrating, but it’s very stressful,” Grenier said.
The pigs are to blame, going hog wild in the Pine Hill Road area after escaping from Radical Roots Farm about 250 yards through the woods behind Grenier’s house.
Grenier says he has seen them at least 20 times since September 30, ranging in size from a football all the way up to a few hundred pounds.
“There’s only so much that people can put up with, quite frankly,” Cooper said.
First Selectman Link Cooper says the problems began about two and a half years ago when the farm opened.
At first, it was cows. Now it is pigs getting out.
Eyewitness News tried to talk to the owner or his lawyer but did not get an answer.
What is it going to take to get all of the damage back to normal?
The cheapest estimate so far is about $23,000.
“It can’t be repaired. There is so much damage it has to be replaced,” said Grenier.
Cooper says Northeastern Connecticut Animal Services has fined the farm multiple times, totaling thousands of dollars.
The fines have not been paid.
The State Department of Agriculture is investigating.
“We can’t fix our lawns until we have a guarantee that the pigs aren’t going to do this again,” said Grenier.
Grenier says he is not alone.
Many of his neighbors are going through the same, and a civil lawsuit is in the works.
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