Our pig saved our bacon – pet porker scares away burglars with ‘Rottweiler-like rumble’

A pet pig has been named a hero ham after he saved his owners from being burgled.

Ludwig the pot-bellied pig growled at wannabe thieves who broke into Mike Maughan and Liane Scholz’s Derby home.

And thanks to his ‘Sty Hard’ actions the family have pledged to never eat pork again.

Owner Mike said: “The noise he makes is like a low rumble that sounds like the biggest Rottweiler you can imagine so I think they just ran.”

The three-year-old Super Ham weighs a whopping 17 stone and was a priority for the couple when they moved from Canada to the UK just

But they never believed that their pet porker – who shares their home with them – would save their bacon.

Just two months after he moved into their home, Mike claims Ludwig sent the terrified burglars running empty-handed.

Warehouse worker Mike said: “It was New Year’s Eve and when we came down in the morning, the door was wide open.

“The room was still warm so they can’t have been there for that long.

“They must have woken Ludwig up and when he realised that we weren’t up and would have been disturbed he sprang into action.

“There were things in there they could have taken, like a bike, but they just left.”

He was adopted from a refuge for beasts that have fallen foul of the various bylaws prohibiting the keeping of swine in small Canadian towns.

Just like a pet dog or cat, the cuddly pig has a litter tray, is learning tricks and gets a good shampoo when he’s got grubby from rolling around in the mud.

And Liane insists that her animal friend is so emotionally intelligent that he sheds tears and understands sign language.

But Ludwig almost didn’t make it across the Atlantic when the Canadian government couldn’t accommodate for pet pig immigration.

Teaching assistant Liane said: “He is actually the first pot-bellied pig to be exported from Canada as a pet.

“The options on the form were fattening, which is a no-no as he is fat enough as it is, slaughter is clearly not going to happen and breeding, which he can’t do because he is fixed.

“So after many phone calls, the Canadian government actually added an extra box to the form that says pet!”

“We are the people that buy pets for our pets.

“At the time, we had a little cockatiel who would fly around the house but she was afraid of other birds.

“I didn’t want to get a dog or a cat. I tried to get Mike interested in lots of different exotic animals and we settled on a pig.”

“I spent two years doing research. Pigs are a nice pet because they are very intelligent but there is a trade-off.

“A pig is like a two or three-year-old toddler but he is a toddler who will never grow up and they live to around 20.”

“When we first got him back and he was only a couple of months old, we put a litter tray down for him. But he got confused and had an accident on the kitchen floor.

“But I showed him where it was and then four hours later he went to his litter box and we have never had an accident since.

“Pigs like to be clean. He doesn’t have much of a coat so when he gets dirty you just give him a brush down with a broom.

“Or if he is particularly unclean, or needs to be extra fancy, then he might have some dry dog shampoo.

“He goes to the toilet in the back yard like a dog would and we just clean up after him.”

“I moved over a couple of months before and was actually living in London but none of the landlords would allow me to have a pig!

“As a house animal, he is well behaved and isn’t a destructive animal but I could see the potential for it.

“It’s the same with a dog. They get destructive because they are bored.

“So we make him little treat boxes that he has to figure out and he has toddler toys and dog toys.

“He never wrecks the yards, though, because he is just too lazy.”

“When you tell him to do something, he wants to know what the outcome will be.

“So he won’t just do things on command but he knows the words for things and I have started using sign language with him now as well, which seems to be working.

“He is also a very emotional animal, as tough as he is physically, if he is really naughty I will shame him and send him outside.

“Then he cries and he actually sheds tears.

“Our bond is incredible – he only gets up when we get up. Until then he stays pretty quiet.

“The noises he makes are quite a nice low-decibel level generally, unless you are trying to make him do something he doesn’t want to, then it just sounds like he is being slaughtered!”