Brits invent “teacup pigs,” new trend in pets

You might remember not too long ago when pigs were trendy as pets.

I think Julia Roberts and or George Clooney may have been pig-owners. But when regular people got pigs as pets, they quickly realized that the animals weren’t piglets forever, didn’t have a cute stutter, and eventually became largely unmanageable. A British breeder named Jane Croft has created a breed of pet pig that is a little more household friendly with her “teacup pigs”- they’re born at literally the size of a teacup. And they only grow to be 12-16 inches long and about 65 lbs- not much bigger than many domestic dogs.

Croft speaks highly of the relatively-tiny pigs, lauding their intellect and hygiene. She says:

“It’s about the size of a small spaniel,” Croft said. “They make fantastic pets. They’re really clean. They’re highly intelligent and just love to be loved. They give so much back to you.”

“People love pigs so much, but it’s almost impossible to keep a full-grown pig in the house,” Croft explained. “Now that we’ve gotten them down to this size, they’ve become extremely popular.”

Teacup pigs have their celebrity fans, too- Rupert Grint, of Harry Potter fame, is said to own two of them. The pigs, which retail for $1100, are only sold in pairs and Croft has a strict vetting process. But she says they can be litter trained like cats and taken for walks. Croft sells about 5-10 of the micropigs a week, but said on Today that she woke up to 500 e-mails looking for pet pigs this morning. Although the animals are not currently available in the US, it’s likely that after the UK micropigs craze, they will be soon.

[Source: MSNBC]