Oscar Bound for a City Friendlier to Potbellied Pigs

Rather than face criminal prosecution, Robert Hamilton and his potbellied pig, Oscar Mayer, will soon be leaving Camarillo--in search of a new home in a city that allows the pint-sized porkers.

Hamilton’s attorney, Thomas Malley, said he and Hamilton offered to work out an agreement with the city after the City Council denied a request to amend an ordinance banning potbellied pigs from Camarillo residential areas last month.

“The Camarillo council reminds me of the three monkeys with their hands over their mouth, ears and eyes--they’re closed-minded and had their minds made up before I even walked in,” Hamilton said, referring to the unanimous action council members took in deciding against amending the ordinance.

The proposed agreement, which the City Council will vote on Wednesday evening, states that Oscar has until the end of June to move from his Colony Drive residence where he’s lived for four years--much to the dismay of neighbors who say he stinks and draws flies.

If Oscar is not relocated by the deadline, the agreement states that Hamilton--a construction worker and part-time bartender--will face civil charges and be required to pay for the city attorney’s fee. And Oscar would still have to be removed from the neighborhood.

The city’s code enforcement department had previously recommended that, if convicted, Hamilton be placed on summary probation for two years, pay a $1,000 fine and show proof that he has relocated the pet he calls his “best friend.”

“Wherever Oscar goes, I go, and vice versa,” Hamilton said Monday. “Right now, I’m looking into either renting or selling my place and then moving to a city in the county that does allow potbellied pigs.”

When the city refused to amend its ordinance, it did not leave Hamilton many choices, attorney Malley said.

“If the city had checked with the surrounding Ventura County cities which permit potbellied pigs, they would have discovered that none of the fears expressed by their code enforcement officer have emerged in any of the other cities,” Malley said.

Oxnard, Ojai and Camarillo are the only local cities that ban potbellied pigs, which are considered to be farm, rather than domestic, animals.

“I have a friend in Thousand Oaks who said that if push came to shove that he’d trade places with me,” Hamilton said. “I want to find a place as soon as possible so that I can get my life back in order.”

But Hamilton said he just won’t do it without Oscar “because he’s my buddy, he’s my pal.”