OMG!
FRUITHURST, Ala. ? The Mystery of the Monster pig appears to have been solved.
The 1,051-pound hog, shot and killed by 11-year-old Jamison Stone and the subject of a world-wide Web firestorm over the photo's authenticity, really is...
Fred.
That's "Fred" the pig, and according to Rhonda and Phil Blissitt
their humongous hog escaped on April 29, four days before it was killed, according to the Star newspaper.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,277097,00.html
"Did you see that pig on TV?" Phil Blissitt recalled Howell asking him. "I said, 'Yeah, I had one about that size.' He said, 'No, that one is yours.'
"That's when I knew."
Phil Blissitt
purchased the pig for his wife as a Christmas gift in December of 2004. From 6 weeks old, they raised the pig as it grew to its enormous size.
Not long ago, they decided to sell off all of their pigs. Eddy Borden, owner of Lost Creek Plantation, purchased Fred.
Attempts by The Star to reach Borden were unsuccessful.
While Rhonda Blissitt was somewhat in the dark about the potential demise of her pet, Phil Blissitt said he was under the understanding that it would breed with other female pigs and then "probably be hunted."
Many other of their former pigs ? like their other farm animals ? had been raised for the purpose of agricultural harvest.
As the Blissitts recounted the events of the last two days, they told stories and made many references to the gentleness of their former "pet."
From his treats of canned sweet potatoes to how their grandchildren would play with him, their stories painted the picture of a gentle giant. They even talked about how their small Chihuahua would get in the pen with him and come out unscathed.
"But if they hadn't fed him in a while," Rhonda Blissitt said, "he could have gotten irate."
Phil Blissitt said he became irritated when they learned about all the doubters who said photos of Fred were doctored.
"That was a big hog," he said.
The information of the pig's previous owner came out on the same day that officials from the Fish and Wildlife concluded their investigation of the hunt. They concluded that nothing illegal happened under the guidelines of Alabama law.
Allan Andress, enforcement chief for the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division, said they learned the hog's origin as the investigation unfolded.