After the war, life for many Georgians would never be the same. They had been
overseas and met new people. Their view of the world had changed. So it seemed
natural that over time more and more folks began moving out of the country
into the city, and sometimes those two cultures clashed and, as you'll see in
our next story, sometimes the results are pretty funny.
*Pig Squealing *
He's the main attraction at
this salvage store in downtown Decatur and folks come from all over to see him.
He's Rufus a pot-bellied pig. A seven month old, 50-pound bundle of untamed
appetite. When store owner Bill Suits was looking for a pet, he figured this
pint-sized porker might be good for business.
Not only do I like him but he
also people keep coming back. They bring their kids, they bring their grandkids,
the senior citizens home up the street up here, the ladies come down. They come
down this to see Rufus. They bring food down for him. They do, you know, it's just
unbelievable. I mean just how it snowballed. It's kind of like a snowball
effect and people keep coming back and while they're here guess what they might
do? They might buy something.
Rufus, come over here.
Rufus is not only a camera hog but a real ham.
Oh look, he's so smart. He even listens. Come here Rufus.
This mini pig is so smart, he's potty trained to use a litter box. Life was
good until someone called to complain. Seems it's against the law to keep hogs
and pigs in the City of Decatur. A city official said get rid of the pig.
I said to him I said "Gee, don't you have anything better to do than to come down
and do this?" He said, well, he said he had a complaint and he has to act on it.
That's his job and I said okay fine.
The more Bill Suits thought about it, the
more pigheaded he felt. He decided to fight City Hall. He wrote letters, made
phone calls, appealed in person to the City Commission arguing that the law was
outdated and that Rufus was more of a pet than a pig.
And we just don't want to, you know, open the gate so that you know everybody
in every other block can have a pig.
The mayor of Decatur opposed the idea,
worried that the situation could get out of hand.
And so you know we can't say well you know mr. X you can do it but we deny mr.
Y so you know we have to be consistent with the rules that we made and that's
why I voted against it.
And this is an example of one of those farm animals,
that would be prohibited under the law we were talking about.
The law dates back to 1951, when Georgians were leaving their farms and record numbers for
cities like Decatur. This was a clash between the old and the new, the country
versus the city life, a sign of changing values. These new city people didn't grow
their own food, they bought it at the grocery store, and they no longer wanted
farm animals next-door.
And it just didn't look good, it didn't smell good, I
mean, we have to be honest about that. It's just in it you know cows and horses
and chickens don't necessarily smell good, and the closer you're living to
people the more you're going to be disturbed by those kinds of animals
right next door to you.
Until the 1960s, DeKalb County was a chief dairy producer.
So dairy farms and working farms were a common sight back then. Strawberry fields
once grew for example on the same spot where Emory University Law School sits
today. In Atlanta, the stretch of land for miles around perimeter shopping mall
used to be one big farm, the Spruill farm. This farm house still stands at this
busy intersection, a gentle reminder of the past.
And it's kind of like the last
remnant. You go and you look at that and you know. I mean it's got the tire swing
hanging out of the tree and you can see the old tractor and the old barn and you
knew, I mean that shows you what life was like in another time, and it's rapidly
disappearing because now life is like Dunkin Donut across the street.
Mayor Elizabeth Wilson grew up on a farm where pigs and hog
became Sunday dinner but she had never seen a pot-bellied pig before and she
agreed to come meet Rufus.
Oh thats good, right Rufus?
Here, I'm just gonna give you this. This is it. There!
I didn't know what pot-bellied pig was. My experience with pigs it's that they grow to be hogs.
Oh that's understandable, that's what the what the law was. It was
outdated saying it but it wasn't keeping up with the fact that pot belly pigs had come in
We'd never heard of it before, yeah.
Do you think that law is outdated?
Personally I don't think it's outdated I think it needs to stay on the books
because I think that people want to be protected from that sort of thing and I
know that even in in the City of Decatur in 1977 I was hearing roosters because
there were people who had chickens and roosters near where I lived and I would
not say it's outdated and you would think it was but I think the minute it
was off, then it would become applicable would be the need would be there again.
Come on, hope in the truck. That's it! Come on!
Ah, this pig tail has a happy ending. Although city commissioners didn't
change the law, they agreed to classify pot-bellied pigs as pets. So life is good
again for Rufus. He comes to work every day with his owner contempt as a pig in a poke.
It's a ego trip for me, yeah. I I I beat
City Hall. I got City Hall to approving and it isn't just for me. All, anybody
else is in the City of Decatur that wants to own a pot-bellied pig can now
own a pot-bellied pig without having any confrontation from anybody. Isn't that good?
*Oinking*
*End Screen Music*
Well, there are still lots of places left to see in this state. There are still
lots of people I'd like you to meet. This is Georgia stories, I'm Colin Sidor.
Thanks