A frantic 911 call about a screaming trapped animal led to an unusual rescue, a clever trick with a salad fork, and a lifelong bond between a pet pig and his local police department.
A Frantic 911 Call
When a 911 call popped up in Texas reporting someone trapped and screaming, the situation sounded incredibly dire.
The dispatcher could hear the sheer volume of the cries on the other end of the line.
However, the call taker likely didn’t realize that the frantic screams they were hearing didn’t belong to a human at all.
The desperate cries for help were actually coming from a pet pig named Carlton.
A New Home Not Quite Ready
Carlton’s owner, Amanda, had just adopted the sweet pig in June of 2019.
They were still getting to know each other, and her house was not entirely pig-proofed yet.
One day, she was upstairs minding her own business when she suddenly heard a terrifying noise.
Being so new to caring for a pig, she immediately assumed Carlton was in a life-threatening circumstance.
Trapped Behind The Sink
Rushing to find the source of the distress, Amanda discovered Carlton in a very tight spot.
The curious pig had somehow managed to get his head completely wedged behind a bathroom pedestal sink.
Unable to free himself, Carlton was panicking and screaming at the top of his lungs.
Desperate for help to safely extract her new pet, she made the call to emergency services.
An Animal Lover Takes Charge
When the local police department arrived, a responding officer named Kelly quickly took the lead.
Her colleagues knew she was a huge animal lover, making her the perfect person to handle the delicate situation.
Officer Kelly assessed the trapped and terrified animal, knowing she needed to calm him down before he hurt himself.
Fortunately, she had a highly specific piece of animal trivia tucked away in her mind for just such an occasion.
A Highly Unusual Request
Officer Kelly happened to know a secret about pigs: if you scratch them with a fork, they tend to calm down.
Looking up at Carlton’s worried owner, the officer made a very unexpected request.
She calmly asked if Amanda could go to the kitchen and bring her a fork.
Confused by the bizarre rescue tool, Amanda asked, “Like a salad fork?”
The Magic Of A Good Scratch
Armed with the ordinary kitchen utensil, Officer Kelly got right to work.
She gently began scratching Carlton’s back with the tines of the fork.
The strange trick worked like absolute magic on the stressed-out pig.
Carlton immediately stopped panicking and relaxed his tense body.
A Lesson Learned
As soon as Carlton relaxed, his head popped right out from under the sink.
The officers didn’t even have to physically pull him out; the pig did all the work himself once he was calm.
Safe and sound, Carlton seemed incredibly grateful to be rescued from his bathroom blunder.
It was a frightening ordeal, but he definitely learned his lesson that day and never tried to squeeze behind the sink again.
From Rescue To Pet Therapy
The hilarious and heartwarming rescue made Carlton quite famous at the APD.
Today, the grateful pig actually gives back to the officers who saved him by doing pet therapy visits at their downtown office.
Amanda never dreamed that years later, they would still be friends with the responding officers.
They now get to share in each other’s lives, watching Carlton happily wag his tail as he slowly gets his gray hairs.