The Surprising Animal You’re Not Allowed to Have as a Pet in Rochester

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I was a little surprised when I read this. Apparently, you're not allowed to own a pet potbelly pig in Rochester, Minnesota. Who knew! I've heard of people owning potbelly pigs and as far as I know, they're great pets.

I don't own my own potbelly pig so we don't have to worry about that, but I had no idea that was a rule here in Rochester. I read this on the City of Rochester Code of Ordinances. It's under Sec. 3-1-4. - Prohibited wild animal. It reads:

It shall be unlawful to keep any wild animal within the city limits, except as permitted pursuant to the provisions of this section. ...

Examples of wild animals, without limitation, are: ...

Any porcine, including, but not limited to, pot-bellied pigs.

I've read that potbelly pigs can be good pets. I did a little research about owning a potbelly pig and The Spruce Pets say "[potbellied] pigs can be charming, intelligent, and affectionate companions." They do mention that they need the right training but dogs also need the right training to be great dogs.

I also read, however, from resources.bestfriends.org, "that [potbellied] pigs can be quite destructive not only to your house, but to your yard as well" and that they can become aggressive if they're the only pig in the house. And that's probably why Rochester doesn't want us to own potbelly pigs because they might destroy the yard and they may be aggressive if not raised correctly.

If you keep scrolling, you can check out other animals that we are not allowed to own in Rochester.