Pompano porker puzzles pooch and police as told by Arthur (Pooch) Payne Arthur (Pooch) Payne, retired lawyer and Judge, now living on NE 2nd St in old Pompano with his wife Grace, was recovering from major vascular surgery in December 1996 and was doing minor repairs to his home getting exercise and to gain strength. Pooch says, "I was on a ladder about the third rung painting the facia board on the side of my house when suddenly the ladder was jostled and something big and heavy bumped my leg. Looking down and being mindful of my position above the ground, I nearly fell off the ladder at what I saw standing at the base of the ladder and making strange guttural noises." There on the ground below me stood this huge, at least two hundred fifty pound pig. This was a real pig, not one of those "Pot belly pigs" you see people parading around on a leash. I was born and raised on a farm in the hills of Kentucky and I knew a pig of this size could be big trouble if he was aggressive. I stepped down gingerly from the ladder and the pig rubbed up quite hard against my leg, apparently, he was used to being around people. I went into my back yard followed by the pig. I picked-up the garden hose, turned it on and squirted him to send him on his way. This was something he obviously enjoyed. I went around to the front of my house and sat down on a bench and this big, now wet, pig followed me, sidled up to the bench beside me and began rubbing against me. I called my wife Grace to come out and upon seeing the pig, and he seeing her he left me and went to her, which scared her back into the house.. Our next door neighbor heard us talking, she came over to see if anything was wrong and upon seeing the pig she said it might be best to get the pig tied-up or fenced in. She was eating an apple and fed it to the pig and it followed her into her fenced-in back yard and there, she put a dog leash on him. She had two dogs in her yard and her beagle and the pig got into a "fight" and the pig received a cut on its snout. She went into the house to get something to stop the pigs bleeding nose and he followed her into the house. She, not wanting a wet, bleeding pig in her house picked-up another apple and led him outside. At this point seeing the pig might get the upper hand, the neighbor did the correct thing, she called animal control. After explaining the problem with this animal being loose and in a residential area of Pompano, she was told that animal control "Did not do pigs," only wild animals, dogs or cats. No further advice from them so she called the Pompano Police Dept. They responded with three units and then there became the problem of placing a huge, wet, bleeding pig in the back seat of a patrol car for transport, and to, where? After much pushing, shoving lifting, grunting and probable some choice words (under their breath, no doubt) The realization that this might be a job for "Superman." No, it was a job for the neighbor who had already found the pigs' weakness, she placed an apple on the back seat of the Police car and Porkey just climbed in and there he was, as the old saying goes, "As happy as a dead pig in the sunshine" (or in this case, the back seat of a Police car.) What ever happened to the "Pompano porker?" Pooch Payne said that about a week later, one of the officers involved in this "caper" stopped by to report that the owner had been identified but not yet located." No mention as to where the pig was now staying. I am not going to speculate on that, will you? ('Pooch Payne' passed away in 2001)