Oxnard woman who was forced to remove pet pigs from home now allowed to keep them as city acknowledges emotional

OXNARD, Calif. (KABC) -- Good news for an Oxnard woman who was devastated when the city forced her to give up her two beloved pet pigs.

Jennifer Whaley says the city is now letting her keep Lincoln and Camille after she made her case that she needs the animals for emotional support.

Whaley was forced to give up her pets because a city ordinance does not allow the keeping of pigs at a home. While Whaley had Lincoln and Camille at home for years, a neighbor complaint triggered the city action.

Whaley has been fighting the city for weeks to get an exemption for emotional support animals which she says help her with mental-health issues.

She also has launched an online effort hoping to modify the city ordinance, which she continues to hope will happen.

After telling her story on Eyewitness News this week, Whaley says the latest correspondence from a city attorney indicates Oxnard will acknowledge the pigs as emotional-support animals and will not enforce the ordinance against her.

Whaley had sent Camille and Lincoln to a farm in Moorpark to stay while she fought the city. But she says she could tell they were unhappy there.

"I'm actually gonna be able to pick them up Sunday morning, and my mom will help me, so it'll be a great Mother's Day," a relieved Whaley told Eyewitness News.

She's had Camille for about 10 years, since she was a piglet, and Lincoln was a rescue that she's had about five years.

Whaley said she chose to keep pigs as emotional-support animals because she is allergic to dogs and cats.

"They just help with my anxiety and they're very comforting," she said. "They're very loving. It's like they sense when I'm upset, because they come to me, and they just want to love on me and cuddle with me. So it definitely helps in those times."