PATASKALA, Ohio — The owner a pig that police said was involved in the death of a Pataskala woman has been charged with a misdemeanor for letting her pigs run loose.
According to police, a neighbor’s pigs were likely involved in the death of Rebecca Westergaard, who was found dead Dec. 25 on the steps of her front porch on Mink Street in Pataskala. She had succumbed to extensive blood loss from wounds on her lower extremities, according to the Licking County Coroner’s Office.
Responding officers who found Westergaard’s body noted a loose pig on the property — later determined to belong to Westergaard’s neighbor — was found to possibly have contributed to her fatal injuries. Westergaard had recently had surgery and suffered from other medical conditions.
The pig owner, whom Farm and Dairy is not naming while the case is ongoing, pleaded guilty to one count of animals running at large, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
She will have a jury trial March 27 at the Licking County Courthouse.
According to state law, no one who owns or keeps horses, mules, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, swine, llamas, alpacas or poultry may allow them to roam freely on a public road, highway, street, lane or alley or on land that is not enclosed and owned by the animals’ keeper.
In Ohio, a fourth-degree misdemeanor could carry up to 30 days in jail, plus potential fines and fees.
Pataskala Police Chief Bruce Brooks told Farm and Dairy that the city had never had any prior complaints about the pig involved in the incident.
