POT-BELLIED PIGS (Wikipedia).

By Jim Tortolano
Orange County Tribune

The pigs are OK.

The Garden Grove City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday night to approve the first reading of an ordinance approving and regulating the keeping of no more than two pot-bellied pigs on residential properties in the city.

Upon the second and final reading and approval of the ordinance, it will go into effect in 30 days.

Members of a Garden Grove family – and their neighbor – who have kept the the pigs as pets expressed concern that their animals might be outlawed.

But Omar Sandoval, city attorney, pointed out that the current city codes do not permit the keeping of pigs, so the new legislation will create an exception for the pot-bellied pig.

Councilmember George Brietigam paid a visit to the home that hosted such animals and found what other people had said: “They’re just like dogs.”

Also on Tuesday night, the council recognized the successes of the Santiago High School cheer team in winning a CIF Southern Section Division 4 title and granted a request from the Garden Grove Unified School District to waive the cost of the use of the city’s Showmobile for its 60th Anniversary Celebration on May 15.