Festive warning over '˜micro pig' gifts

The call comes from West Sussex County Council Trading Standards Service, for whom, Graeme MacPherson, Head of Trading Standards, said: “‘Micro pigs’ are again in the spotlight as one of this year’s must-have Christmas presents.

“But first be aware: There is no such breed as a ‘micro pig’. They are just small pigs bred with other small pigs to make them smaller still.

“There is no cast iron guarantee the pig you buy will stop growing at a certain size – and for a seller to state otherwise could be a deceptive statement and a breach of the law.”

‘Micro pigs’ are not like pups and kittens, he said.

“Though they are usually bought to be kept as pets, in the eyes of the law they are agricultural animals. This means they are subject to exactly the same disease controls and regulations as pigs kept in commercial herds.

“These include registering their pet with the Animal Health Agency and complying with other measures designed to control the spread of highly contagious animal viruses, such as foot and mouth disease.

“‘Micro pig’ owners will also need to obey laws governing the movement of pigs between premises and abide by strict rules regulating what the creatures can be fed – for example, feeding kitchen scraps to pigs is illegal,” said Graeme.

Peter Evans, County Council Cabinet Member for Public Protection, said: “This is valuable advice from our Trading Standards experts.

“Failure to comply with current legislation could land ‘micro pig’ owners with hefty fines, and result in them being disqualified from keeping the animals in future.”

A guide on keeping pet pigs is available from the West Sussex County Council website at www.westsussex.gov.uk. Follow the links to ‘trading standards advice’ from the business pages.