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Bacon saved: OPP, Good Samaritans to the rescue after pigs fly from truck

Five pigs fell out of a truck on Highway 401 outside of Kingston Friday morning, and Good Samaritans helped the animals back to safety, say police.

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said in a news release the Lennox and Addington detachment responded to a report of "pigs falling out of a tractor trailer" at about 7:30 a.m., entering Highway 401 eastbound from County Road 4.

Darren Pruner, president of the animal rescue group Second Chance Ranch in Odessa, Ont., said he got a call about the pigs this morning, and drove over to see if he could help.

He said when he got there, he saw two pigs on County Road 4.

"We went and got our horse trailer," said Pruner. After loading them on there, Pruner said he went and found two more pigs on the on-ramp going into Highway 401.

It needed to be done so we went and did it. - Darren Pruner, Second Chance Ranch

"[I saw] a policeman with a rope around the pigs neck," he described the scene. "We were told there's one more down the 401. So we [went] down ... and got the last pig loaded up. That's about all the excitement."

He said staff from CoCo Paving Inc., also helped police corral the pigs.

Not a typical morning

"This is not something that we run across normally at all," said Pruner, chuckling. The closest thing, he said, is his neighbour's potbelly pig down the road that runs back and forth to eat apples.

"It was a rainy morning, definitely not something we planned on doing. It needed to be done so we went and did it."

Pruner said one pig looked "quite injured," with a "little bit of a road rash." He said they wrapped it in a blanket and carried it to the horse trailer. OPP said in the news release that the five pigs were not seriously injured.

Pruner said they helped take the pigs to the original truck driver.

OPP said the driver of the truck was charged with having an insecure load under the Highway Traffic Act.