BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) 鈥 A baby pig that was rescued after being tossed like a football near a Mardi Gras event in New Orleans was 鈥減ardoned鈥 Wednesday and has found a permanent home with a Louisiana lawmaker.
The weeks-old little pink critter 鈥 dubbed Earl 鈥淧iglet鈥 Long, a play on the name of the former 45th governor of Louisiana 鈥 was ceremoniously pardoned by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser on the Louisiana Capitol steps.
鈥淗e will live out his life without any threat of being thrown like a football or being part of jambalaya or boudin in someone's kitchen here in Louisiana,鈥 Nungesser said referring to two popular dishes that contain sausage.
While beads, stuffed animals and hand-decorated souvenirs are frequently catapulted through the air during , pigs are not among those items.
The piglet鈥檚 journey to a new home began earlier this month when a bystander noticed men in a park, not far from a Mardi Gras parade, throwing 鈥渨hat appeared to be a mini-football鈥 to one another and laughing, according to the Humane Society of Louisiana.
As the bystander approached they could hear squealing and realized the object flying through the air was a baby pig. The bystander approached the men and asked for custody of the terrified animal.
鈥淭he rowdiness, endless parades, and party-like atmosphere often lend themselves to questionable behavior 鈥 like how three grown men behaved a few days ago,鈥 the Humane Society said in a social media post.
The piglet, who is expected to grow to be 80 pounds (36 kilograms), has since been adopted by state Rep. Lauren Ventrella and will live on a farm in the Capitol region.
鈥淎s a Republican, sometimes we like to cut the pork,鈥 Ventrella said, alluding to the GOP's reputed conservative approach to fiscal spending. 鈥淏ut, I will tell you this is the pork we won't be cutting.鈥
