WATCH: Police officer dives to capture runaway pig

GRANTSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) — An officer with the Grantsville City Police Department took a dive today to capture an offender who’s been going hog-wild.

“Pig situation handled,” the department wrote in a Facebook post, along with a video showing Officer Cory Cooper jumping on the ground to grab a pig, and taking it away squealing.

Office Cooper said about a week ago the department got a call about a few loose pigs running around the neighborhood of South Hale Street. He said people told police that the pigs were getting into yards and gardens, as well as eating other animals’ feed. Every time police tried to corral them, the pigs would run off.

But today, April 4, the pigs’ run around the city would come to an end. Officer Cooper said a woman called the department to tell them that the pigs were penned in one of her chicken coops. When police got there, the pigs had escaped — and a chase around the neighborhood began.

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“There were two that were loose, they were sticking together pretty good for a minute, but then they ended up getting separated and that’s when I went after the little one and managed to catch up,” Officer Cooper said.

He said this isn’t his first rodeo, adding he’s had to chase cows and other animals.

“In fact, one of the comments on the Facebook page was a lady who said officers had to chase down a really aggressive rooster in her front yard, and it’s funny because that was actually me as well,” he said.

And as for pigs, he’s also familiar with their antics.

“Pigs are pretty agile. This is definitely not my first time I had to wrangle some pigs. I used to have some friends out here that had them and they’re notorious for getting out. They are fast and they have a lot of stamina,” he said.

Officer Cooper remarked that the pig kept trying to evade him, but eventually, the time came to slide into action.

“I think she was getting tired, which is good because I was getting tired, and so I saw my opportunity and just dove after her,” he said.

The second pig was also captured and now both are staying at a rescue that volunteered to hold them until their owner is found, and it’s equipped with secure fencing to ensure they don’t run off again. As for Officer Cooper, he made it out of the ordeal with just a few scrapes.

He added that it was a big team effort to finally catch them.

“We only have one animal control officer so when stuff like this comes out, it’s an all-hands-on-deck operation that we all joined in. I actually just checked on for the day and my supervisor said we got a line on these pigs, we are gonna try and capture them,” he said.

Cooper said if you recognize the pigs and think they might be yours, to give the Grantsville City Police Department a call.

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