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Health Department Threatens To "Dispose" Of Pet Pigs In Queens
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 18, 2013
Modified Feb 18, 2013
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Courtesy CBS 2
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 18, 2013
Modified Feb 18, 2013
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Two Queens pig owners are joining forces to fight City Hall for the sake of their porcine pets. Disabled Navy veteran Nadine Darsanlal, along with Lou and Danielle Forgione of Whitestone, have gotten the attention of State Senator Tony Avella after receiving letters from the Health Department ordering them to get rid of their pet pigs, which are illegal in NYC. “They hit us with a letter that we had 15 days to dispose of said animal," Danielle Forgione tells the Post. "Otherwise they would come in with force and they would dispose of him. Basically they told us they would euthanize him."
When Forgione, a mother of six, went to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings to fight the summons, she says she was told the matter might be referred to Child Protective Services for her children's safety. “As if Petey was going to harm them!” she declares. “He’s so gentle. He sits in bed with my kids. He’s clean. He’s wonderful.” (The pig is named Petey after her dead brother.) The Forgiones are also being threatened with eviction from their co-op and are planning to relocate to Long Island, where they can live with Petey among people who won't judge them for welcoming a barnyard animal into their beds.
Meanwhile, in another part of Queens, the disabled navy vet is fighting to keep her pig, which she uses as a service animal. Darsanlal says her pig, Wilbur, "gets me out there. It gets me going. Exercise is good for me to get up and go instead of just being home. It gets my mind off of my ailments.” She tells CBS 2 she's been subjected to “complete harassment" by the Health Department in the past month. Luckily, Senator Avella has her back.
Tomorrow Avella will appear at a rally urging the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to explore options that would allow the Forgiones and Darsanlal to keep their pigs. He points out that a pig recently visited Gracie Mansion without incident, perhaps because it happened to be the property of Mayor Bloomberg's daughter. "The city’s going after families who have pigs as companions," Avella tells the Post. "Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s daughter has a pig in Gracie Mansion and no one mentions it’s illegal." We've been unable to verify the authenticity of photos which appear to show the pig smoking a cigarette while drinking from a giant 32 ounce soda and checking out a woman's ass.
Tagged
pigs
tony avella
wilbur
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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