Eastend couple hopes city lets them keep their beloved pet pig

A Montreal couple are hoping to be allowed to keep their beloved family pet — a 27-kilogram pig named Babe.

Mario Ramos and his wife, Sara-Maude Ravenelle, received a notice from a city inspector giving them 15 days to find another place to put their animal or else face penalties.

Ramos and Ravenelle live in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough. He says he previously received permission to keep Babe when they lived in the neighboring Rosemont-Petite-Patrie borough, but adds the city's new rules are unclear on whether pigs are allowed as pets.

He says Babe is clean, gets walked on a leash and lives happily in the family's apartment along with the couple's baby and three cats.

He's hoping the city will allow them to maintain the porcine presence when it presents a new animal control bylaw later this year.

The City of Montreal said in an email it is in contact with the family and is reviewing the situation.

Meanwhile, the couplehave launched a petition, in an attempt to sway the city into allowing them to keep the pig.