Image supplied by Eli Gagne / Hamson when he first arrived at the Gagne residence.

By Laurice Gomes

Pet Pig

After death of pet pig, Chilliwack man looking for 1,000 signatures to bring ‘Hamson’s Law’ into effect

Aug 17, 2022 | 6:00 AM

CHILLIWACK — Eli Gagne is on a mission to get the Fraser Valley Regional District to amend Bylaw No. 1206 to allow for the keeping of one, two, or three pigs, classified as livestock as pets on private property.

Gagne lost his pet pig, Hamson, who was just a-year-and-a-half old, after he had to rehome it.

He said, “They gave us a week to find a home, and then they were going to start giving us a daily charge of a hundred bucks,” referring to a call he received from animal control with the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) after a neighbour made a complaint about Hamson.

The current FVRD bylaw states that livestock are not permitted as pets within a residence or on real property. Gagne said he tried to temporarily rehome Hamson on four different farms in Chilliwack so that he could be close to him—even offering money in exchange.

“But the farms wouldn’t take him because he’s not livestock,” he said. “But he’s gone because of the bylaw under livestock; so, it’s poor wording in the bylaw itself.”

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Image: L. Gomes / PML / Eli Gagne has a goal of 1,000 signatures to bring ‘Hamson’s Law’ into effect.

Gagne said a friend of a friend who owned a hobby farm just outside of Kelowna had offered to keep Hamson. Four hours after Hamson was dropped off, he died.

“It looks like it was a heart attack because he was under great stress through the whole thing,” Gagne said. “He was basically under stress almost the entire day, because we were trying to catch him to put him into the crate and drive him all the way up to just outside of Kelowna.”

He recalled the day when he had barely gotten home after dropping Hamson off when he received the heartbreaking phone call.

“She said, ‘Hey, are you sitting down?’, and she let me know he had passed away,” he said.

That’s when Gagne decided he wanted to implement change, and started speaking with council, the City of Chilliwack, and animal control.

“As far as petitions go, you need 30 days to get a certain number of signatures,” he said, and added that he has a goal of 1,000 signatures to bring ‘Hamson’s Law’ into effect.

People interested in signing the petition can visit thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/554/756/615.

Image supplied by Eli Gagne / Hamson with the other Gagne family pets.