When you have a pet pig and make the decision to name her ‘Princess’, you obviously plan on having her around for a very long time. Imagine for a moment, however, if you were the owner of that pig and discovered that it had been slaughtered by a neighbor.

That is exactly what happened when Princess, the 400-pound pig left her pen and wandered into the neighbor’s yard.

Apparently, Princess had wandered away from mother’s house, Carrie Hogan, where her pen was. It happened on March 23 in California. It seems as if Princess was in the mood to wander and the neighbor’s yard looked welcoming. When the police stopped by, they asked the man to watch the animal while they were looking for the owner.

The pig wasn’t wearing any identification tags and the homeowner agreed to watch after Princess. The problem is, when the police returned an hour later, he had already cut up the pig for meat.

Arcata Police Department Chief Brian Ahearn said they had reached a ‘reasonable arrangement’ with the man and they were sticking by it. He said: “We were totally shocked and surprised to learn that the pig had been slaughtered. There was no reason to believe that that individual was going to do that.”

APD Lt, Todd Dockweiler said: “Believe it or not, that’s not a super uncommon call for us. Obviously that was a bit of a shock to everyone involved.

“Given the stage of the butchering process he was in, he must have slaughtered the pig very shortly after the officer left.

“It’s just a really bizarre case,’ he added. ‘It’s just not clear what the thought process was. He obviously knew the pig didn’t belong to him and he didn’t have the right to slaughter it.”

Princess’ owner was upset with the police department. She didn’t know why they would allow a stranger to watch the pig “He took it upon himself to give my animal away. And then it got butchered.”

She then went on to say how she had raised Princess from a piglet and bottle-fed her. The pig was described as being ‘very sweet’ and she loved being around people.

While the man was still butchering the pig, Carrie’s mother confronted him. He told her she did not have a right to be on his property. The family is now trying to get the meat from the neighbor. She doesn’t want to eat the pig but she doesn’t want anyone else to eat her either.

It seems as if he may have committed a crime by butchering a pig that did not belong to him. Criminal charges are being considered.