Rescued Pot-Bellied Pig Pays Visit To Oakland Police HQ
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) – A rescued pig named Vivienne that KPIX 5 reported on last week is enjoying her new life at her new home with a face familiar to Bay Area television viewers: the Oakland Police Department's Public Information Officer Johanna Watson.
The 24-pound pig was found on the street in South San Francisco last week, according to the Peninsula Humane Society in San Mateo.
While there were hopes that telling Vivienne's story might help her find a new home, no one could have known that an Oakland police officer would scoop her up only hours after the story aired.
On Friday, Vivienne got to go where no other pot-bellied pig has gone before: Oakland police headquarters.
For Watson, adopting Vivienne is a childhood dream come true. She and the pig have quickly become inseparable.
"I'll take any size pig. If she ends up growing up to be 400 pounds, she'll always stay in the family," said Watson.
Vivienne got to visit the department at Chief Anne Kirkpatrick's request and even enjoyed a belly rub right in the middle of her office.
"It's also an opportunity for people to engage in friendly conversation with police officers," said Kirkpatrick. "Nothing to have to do with police, nothing to have to do [with anything] but engagement."
Officers see the irony of police loving the pig, but it's nothing they haven't heard before.
"We have, I have, been called every name in the book and names that I've never even heard of," said Watson. "So this is just part of the arena that we operate in."
To the chief's knowledge, the visit was not violating any city health codes, because Vivienne was only on the premises for a couple of hours. And the pot-bellied pig brought smiles to officers' faces who have seen some gruesome things on the job.
"I want our officers, all the members of our department, to be well and to be whole and to be happy," said Kirkpatrick. "And they do see a lot of tragedy of life."
"And if it puts a smile on our officers' face, our professional staff's face," said Watson. "Anyone in our community that takes a double take: 'Is that a pig? Yes, it is a pig.'"
While Vivienne is far from being an official mascot of the Oakland Police Department, you may see her at future events soon.
