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Alaina Templeton was 6 years old.
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Alaina Templeton, Winona’s most famous potbelly pig, died Tuesday afternoon of unknown causes. The pig, shown here in a Daily News file photo, is at the center of an animal cruelty case involving a pet sitter accused of neglect.
(File Photo/Winona Daily News)
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Her owner, Michelle Schmitz, said her boyfriend found the pig unresponsive at about 4 p.m. Tuesday when he tried to feed it a pear. Schmitz rushed to the scene during a break at work.
“I can’t believe she’s dead,” Schmitz said through tears Wednesday morning. “It doesn’t seem real.”
Alaina was later wrapped in a blanket and buried at Schmitz’s uncle’s farm just south of Winona.
Alaina made it into newspapers across the world and even received snarky commentary on “Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update” when a case of animal cruelty was brought against her former caretaker for letting her balloon to nearly triple her normal weight.
Schmitz left her pet in the care of Mary Josephine Beesecker in February 2007 as she underwent incapacitating surgery.
After several months, Schmitz said she was forced to remove Alaina from Beesecker’s rural Houston, Minn., farm in October 2007 because Beesecker refused to return her phone calls.
Schmitz discovered her pet had gained about 100 pounds, and her elastic collar was imbedded in her neck, requiring more than four hours of surgery by veterinarians to remove it.
Charges of animal cruelty were eventually pressed against Beesecker, accusing her of neglect for not removing the collar before it became embedded and caused an infection.
A jury trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 14.
Alaina died young.
Most potbellies live to be between 16 and 18 years old, but the stress of moving, tripling its weight, moving again and dieting most of the weight off, all within a year, may have contributed to the pig’s demise, Schmitz said. She said she knew the events would affect her pig, but not to this extent.
“I hold it against Mary,” she said. “(Alaina) was so healthy and perfect.”
Beesecker has refused to comment for stories about Alaina.
Veterinarian Dr. Randy Snell previously said Alaina was in tip-top shape on a strict diet to keep her weight down around 50 pounds before the incident.
The exact cause of death is unknown.
Although Alaina has moved on to greener pastures and muddier pens, her spirit will live with Schmitz forever in the form of a tattoo she has had for years.
“She’s a part of me,” Schmitz said.
bartski wrote on Nov 22, 2008 9:28 AM: