Hank Adams said Milky is one of the family. It was even included on the family’s Christmas card.

So imagine his concern when he found out the Vietnamese potbellied pig was illegal in the city of Mandeville, and he was told by Mandeville Police that he had to get rid of it.

City Council member Carla Buccholz, who last month introduced an ordinance to change the city’s law prohibiting swine, said she was approached by Adams, who was looking for a way to keep his pet. He and his wife have had Milky, named as such because it was pure white as a baby, for 10 years. They recently moved from Lewisburg, which is right outside of city limits to home in Weldon Park, which is inside city limits.

Milky, of course, made the move too.

Adams said he didn’t want to make a trouble; he just didn’t know about the law prohibiting swine. But, he also didn’t want to give up his pet, one he considers more a child than a pig.

Buccholz said no one had actually seen the pig when the police were called out to Adams’ home after a neighbor made an anonymous call.

“They had just heard about it,” she told her fellow council members when the proposed change was introduced.

City law prohibited all swine- Vietnamese potbellied pigs included.

However, Buccholz pointed out, in 1997, the United States Department of Agriculture issued a letter that classified potbellied pigs as private domesticated pets and not livestock.

She said these animals should be treated the same as dogs and not the same as everyday swine, which are raised for humane consumption.

The full council supported her and amended the law earlier this month to allow Vietnamese potbellied pigs weighing less than 150 pounds to reside in the city limits.