Police chief says shooting of pet pig was not a crime

A 16-year-old boy who shot and killed a pet pig did not commit a crime, police said Friday.

Mary, the pet pig of Scott City resident Craig Ancell, was slain by a bow and arrow Tuesday night. The 350-pound Vietnamese pot-bellied pig had gotten loose from her fenced-in yard when she was shot by a 16-year-old boy in a neighboring farmer's cornfield.

"After formal review, this doesn't appear to be a criminal matter at all," police chief Don Cobb said. "No crime has taken place here."

The teenager was within city guidelines to fire his bow, including being more than 100 yards away from a school or church and not firing across, along or at a public highway, residence or business, Cobb said.

Laws regarding the hunting and killing of hogs are lax in Missouri.

The Missouri Department of Conservation allows the hunting of feral pigs on public or private lands without permission, field program supervisor Rex Martensen said.

As long as the animal has no visible tags and is roaming freely, the animal can be hunted, he said.

According to Cobb, the slain pig did not have any visible tags or identification.

The parents of the 16-year-old boy said their son called a family friend, who is in law enforcement, before shooting the hog to ensure doing so would not be illegal. He had permission to hunt on the field where the animal was, they said.

In an interview Wednesday, Ancell claimed Mary, whom he had had for six to seven years, did not resemble a feral hog.

"It's just like one of our kids," he said.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127