The owners of the only pig in Seal Beach have applied for a permit to keep the animal. The permit was filed with Long Beach Animal Care Services Bureau, which provides animal control services for Seal Beach, on Thursday, Jan. 23.
Eric Grimsley, co-owner of Bubba the Seal Beach Pig, provided the Sun with a copy of the permit application the same day.
Seal Beach Mayor Ellery Deaton directed staff Monday, Jan. 13, to tell the owners of Bubba the Pig that they could apply for a permit to keep him. Deaton did not mention the pig or its owners by name, but Bubba is the only pig known to live in Seal Beach.
Madonna Grimsley, Bubba’s “mom,” has stage four cancer and was hospitalized last weekend, according to posts by some of her friends at the Save Bubba the Pig Facebook page.
Earlier this week, Madonna Grimsley confirmed that she had emergency surgery last week and will receive a PET scan this week.
Madonna Grimsley said she had received the permit application in her email. She said she would have to fill it out and take it to Long Beach Animal Care Services. However, she hasn’t had time while dealing with her medical issues.
Deaton’s direction to staff followed the City Council’s unanimous vote to pass on second and final reading an ordinance that adds pigs to the list of non-domestic animals that a Seal Beach resident may keep, provided they have a permit.
The permit ordinance was originally a Consent Calendar item, but was pulled off the Consent Calendar at the request of District Four Councilman Gary Miller.
He said he would vote for the ordinance, but he requested that no permits for non-domesticated animals be issued in District Four. Miller’s district includes College Park East and the Town Center.
The council members voted 5-0 to approve the new ordinance.
Deaton then asked City Attorney Quinn Barrow to contact the pig’s owners, an apparent reference to Bubba the Pig.
Seal Beach officials had been attempting to remove the pig for about three years. However, the ordinance prohibiting “hogs” was apparently inadequate because the definition of hog was subject to debate.
The city attorney wanted the language clarified, so last year the council approved a change to the city code that banned pigs of all sizes and kinds from the city. It was a Consent Calendar item and was passed without discussion. The staff report did not mention the code enforcement issue.
Unexpectedly, the passage of the ordinance triggered a storm of protest and a short-lived media circus.
Supporters of Bubba’s owner, who has Stage 4 cancer, protested the expanded definition of prohibited animals, arguing the City Council was over-reaching. Opponents of the pig argued that the animal did not belong in a residential neighborhood and would be better off somewhere else, in a larger space.
Ultimately the issue was resolved last November when Councilwoman Deaton proposed adding pigs to the list of animals allowed with a permit. Deaton asked the pig’s owners and one of their critics if that was acceptable. Both sides agreed to the compromise.
