PHOENIX — While preparing for a new freeway project, the Arizona Department of Transportation ran into a big problem.
Pixie the potbelly pig was spotted in November living on a property ADOT purchased in 2023 along the corridor for planned State Route 30 in Avondale, according to a press release.
“I was told someone had spotted Pixie back in November and went out to check for her,” Ed Green, hazardous material coordinator with ADOT’s Environmental Planning Group, said in a press release. “Sure enough, she was out there on what had been a mini farm. And that’s when, with the help of Chad Rubke from Arizona Game and Fish, we contacted a couple of rescue groups to see what they could do.”
While Pixie was lured close to a humane trap, she did not get into it, and ADOT Right-of-Way Administrator Paula Gibson arranged for the structure removal to be postponed while efforts to rescue Pixie continued.
Volunteers and ADOT employees put out bait for Pixie, including a Halloween pumpkin, Cheerios, donuts and strawberries. But with several acres to roam on her own, Pixie was happy to come and go as she pleased, going nowhere near the traps.
Volunteers also watched from a video camera set up to track Pixie that a half dozen javelinas, a skunk, several racoons and at least one cat enjoyed the bait, according to the press release.
“We figured out the original trap wouldn’t work. That led to some great teamwork to repurpose what had been a pen for chickens,” Southwest Team Leader Carrianne Frary from Humane Animal Rescue and Trapping Team (HARTT) said.
The chicken pen was fit with a special door triggered by a laser beam and thankfully, this trap worked, and Pixie was penned before Christmas.
“We had so many close calls in our attempts to help Pixie,” Frary said. “I knew exactly when she went in this time. It was a big relief.”
Now the two-year-old pig is living her best life at a Cave Creek area ranch operated by Better Piggies Rescue, far away from any highway projects. The property along Southern Avenue where Pixie once roamed has since been cleared.
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