The community of Lyndhurst, Ont., a small village northwest of Brockville, Ont., is rallying to help bring back a man’s emotional support animal.
It’s a pig named Hammy, and he’s been by Greg Rajewski’s side for 10 years.
“I just want my pig back,” he told CTV News on Friday. “I wish he’d come home and they would allow him to come home.”
Earlier this month, bylaw officials with Leeds & Thousand Islands Township handed Rajewski a fine of just over $1,700 for keeping livestock in his residence.
Hammy is currently living elsewhere and Rajewski is able to visit him, but he wants his pig back home.
Rajewski lives on disability, and has been forced to pay the fine in installments, despite having registered Hammy as his emotional support animal last year.
CTV News reached out to officials with the Leeds and Thousand Islands Township for comment on Rajewski’s circumstance, but they refused to comment on matters involving an individual resident.
“We’ve created a mess here that wasn’t necessary,” said Judy Osborne, an advocate for bringing Hammy home.
“We just want to get him back home for Greg’s sake and for the pig’s sake.”
Osborne isn’t alone. A GoFundMe was started to help Rajewski with his fine, and according to the page just under $700 has been raised.
In addition, the page indicates that since bylaw issued the fine for Hammy, Rajewski was issued fines for other problems with his property, totalling over $6,000.
There is also a petition to ‘Bring Hammy Home,‘ and as of Friday afternoon, more than 1,000 people have signed it.
“Every day, he was a part of my life,” Rajewski concluded. “He just makes me smile every day.”