TOLEDO, Ohio — Three little piggies went to a west Toledo ice cream shop on Oct. 3. It was caught on camera.
"They were almost bacon in the middle of Reynolds Road," said Mandy Flagg, who was managing Hannah's Soft Serve at the time and rescued the pigs.
"I was actually making a banana split for a regular customer and I heard him say 'pigs' and I just looked up and I had to take three takes," Flagg said.
So, she went 'whole hog' after them.
"They were right here by that time in my drive through and they saw me, went that way, so I came across, went out this way and they were in the road, so I was kind of weaving back in and out of the road," she said, describing the incident.
Timothy and Teresa Clark are the proud owners of nine pigs, who they admit have not always stayed home.
"They get drifts of the smell from Hannah's and - they're pigs," said Timothy Clark. "My little girl that led the pack with them at Hannah's was like my little evil genius."
The Clarks, who live on Kellogg Road, consider them to be pets and comfort animals, not livestock, as they are referred to in Toledo Municipal Code, which states, "No person shall raise or keep any hogs...without having first obtained a written permit from the Commissioner of Health."
"We have cats, and I've had dogs and I love them, but I've done a lot of reading over time on how relaxing pigs actually are, and people see them like everything is edible," he said. "When in reality, these are my pets. Like, I make bacon jokes myself, to them, and they laugh. Princess actually sounds like an old man grunting when she laughs."
Not everyone is a fan of the pigs.
"The backyard, it's deplorable. It's disgusting. That's no place for animals to live," said Jessica Mabe, who lives next door.
Flagg's bedroom window is feet away from the Clark's backyard, where the pigs live.
"That's what you hear, four, five in the morning, is these pigs," said Flagg. "They sound like a bunch of farm animals. It's absurd."
Jennifer Welty, another neighbor, reported the pigs to the health department.
"These are big pigs, these aren't miniature pigs," said Welty. "They're quite large and this is the city. It's not a farm."
According to Toledo Municipal Court records, Teresa Clark's mother, Sandra Mills, is the homeowner of the property on Kellogg Road and is therefore responsible.
The records state Mills was charged with a misdemeanor on Jan. 18, 2023, for "failing or neglecting to obey or neglecting to obey or abide with an order to abate a public nuisance" for a violation issued on Nov. 10, 2022. Mills has failed to appear in court twice, and as of July 30, has a bench warrant for her arrest.
Teresa Clark told WTOL 11 that Mills, "lives with us, but the pigs have absolutely nothing to do with her. The pigs are actually mine and my husband's. My mom is 71 years old. They keep trying to go after her, but they're not hers."
However, WTOL 11 also located records of a bench warrant for Timothy Clark for failing to appear on the same misdemeanor charge, issued on Feb. 27 with a $500 bond.
Timothy Clark said he plans to pay any fines and keep three of his favorite pigs, Princess, Mr. Beefy and Hippobottomless, and said people need to be open-minded about unorthodox animals being kept as pets.
"You're hearing of a dog or a cat as a pet, not a pig and that's the thing," said Timothy Clark. "People have this established idea on what's allowed to be a pet in their mind because they love bacon."
"If it was four or five rabid pit bulls running down Reynolds Road, we'd have the police, we'd have animal control and everybody else here," said Mabe. "But, because it's her four or five pigs running down the road, nobody showed up."