CAMBRIDGE, Ill. — The Henry County Sheriff's Department got an unexpected call Tuesday morning. A loose pig was found on the side of Interstate-74.
The piglet was only around 10 pounds and shivering on the side of the road. The sheriff's department tried calling all the local hog farmers, but weren't able to locate the pig's owner.
The piglet had "NCGW" written on her ear, so Srgt. Josh Verscheure said they now believe she fell or jumped out of a semi driving down the highway. He thinks the NC could indicate she came from a farm in North Carolina.
"I cannot think of another time in, maybe once or twice in my 23 years that I've even heard, especially on the interstate," Verscheure said. "On the rural farm, you know, we have livestock get out, but on the interstate and that tiny piglet like that is not something you see every day."
After posting about the lost pig on Facebook, several people in the Henry County area commented saying they would gladly take the pig in.
Many were calling the pig Wilbur, in reference to "Charlotte's Web." However, since the pig is a female, Verscheure said they nicknamed her Wilma.
The pig ended up being adopted by a local Cambridge family. They came and picked her up from the sheriff's department Tuesday afternoon.
"Hopefully we can get visiting rights with Wilma," Verscheure joked. "That would be cool."
He added that it was nice to see a happy ending to their out of the ordinary day at the station.
"That's the great thing about law enforcement, it's the non-monotonous of this work and a story like this is kind of funny and nice to hear," he said. "It was a good ending for everyone involved, including the poor little pig that is great now."