Therapy pig, missing for 6 weeks, found in Pennsylvania in ‘pretty good’ shape

ALIQUIPPA, Pa. — The owner of a potbellied pig that serves as a therapy animal says the pig is in “pretty good” condition after being missing for six weeks.

Owner Katie Manni says she got a call saying Charlotte was spotted at a construction site near Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, 5 miles from home. When Manni went there Friday, she saw Charlotte standing underneath the office trailer, and “she came to me when I said her name with her tail wagging.”

The couple who provided the tip declined a reward so she plans to make a donation in their name to the Beaver County Humane Society in Monaca, Manni said.

The Vietnamese potbellied pig had last been seen July 11. Charlotte serves as a therapy animal at Beaver Elder Care and Rehab Center in Hopewell Township, helping to cheer up residents there.

Manni and her fiance, Edward Perry, got Charlotte in February, when she was 6 weeks old. On the day the pig went missing, Perry had left her and two pugs in a car for about 10 minutes while he ran into the center to pick up something from Manni, who directs nurses there. When he returned to the car, Charlotte was gone.

After Charlotte got home, Manni said the pig had a tick on one of her legs and one eye wasn’t open all the way. She said she was so thin that her ribs and hip bones were slightly visible. She was “more quiet than normal,” but after being taken to work “she allowed the staff and residents to come up to her, pet her and dote on her.”

“She remembered what offices she could get food in” and laid down for someone she knew would give her a belly rub, Manni said. “I think in a week or so she should be back to normal,” she said.

Manni says she doesn’t know where the pig has been.

“Unfortunately she can’t tell us about her adventure,” she said.