One city of Dunkirk residence is officially allowed to shelter a pot-bellied pig, named Eleanor Roosevelt, after a narrow vote by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The board, during a recent meeting, granted the appeal of Samuel and Heather Medema of 139 W. Chestnut St. for permission to retain the nearly-one-year-old, spayed pig at their home, citing bad initial information given by the city attorney’s office as the primary reason. The appeal split board members down the middle, 3-2, with Chairman Bob Bankoski, Phil Collier and Steve Helwig voting “yes” and Steve Galarado and Marcy Rice casting “no” votes.

The Medemas expressed their relief of being able to keep their pet pig after they heard the board’s decision.

“Pot-bellied pigs are really a great animal,” Heather Medema said. “They’re very smart; she’s learned (commands) much more quickly than any dog I’ve seen.”

Eleanor was adopted shortly after the Medemas were apparently told by a secretary in the attorney’s office in November that since no reference to pot-bellied pigs is made in the codebook, they were allowed to own one. About a week after adopting Eleanor, the secretary reportedly called the Medemas and stated that she was mistaken in assuming a pot-bellied pig was allowed in the city.

“Saying that something was against the law because a law did not exist did not make sense to me,” Heather Medema wrote in an appeal letter to the ZBA. “At this point, Eleanor was completely established in our home and in our lives. Eleanor is a domesticated animal. She depends on humans for survival.”

The letter went on to state that the federal government considers pot-bellied pigs to be domestic pets, not farm animals. A separate letter by Katie Ball of Arkwright Veterinary Services backed up the Medemas’ claim that Eleanor is a domesticated, microchipped animal with a rabies vaccination.

“As I understand, the issue is we’re not zoned for farmland, and we get that,” Heather Medema said to the ZBA during the appeal. “We don’t want to open a farm. We love Eleanor, but we don’t want a whole herd of them.”

As part of granting the variance, the board stipulated that its decision applies solely to this specific animal at this specific residence; it does not set any precedent, nor does it create any alteration in the city codebook.

Though Eleanor will spend much of her life indoors, additional provisions the board gave included installing a fence and natural landscaping so the existing pigpen (which incorporates an electric fence) cannot be seen from the road.

Rice explained she voted against permitting the pig because the West Chestnut Street area, a residential district, has some of the strictest zoning regulations in the city. She added allowing the pig could lead to a slippery slope.

“I don’t think that a farm animal (should be allowed there), even as a pet, plus the fact that I don’t think it looked very nice,” she said, referring to the fact that a portion of the lawn was torn up as a result of the pot-bellied pig.

Samuel Medema noted that is a “natural behavior” for pigs to tear up grass.

Samuel explained he had friends with pot-bellied pigs while growing up, which was a motivating factor in adopting his own.

No one else spoke out in favor of or against granting the appeal during the meeting.

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