Winnipeg businesswoman cuts deal to send loose pig to sanctuary

A loose pig made the most of its few moments of freedom in Winnipeg on Friday morning, hamming it up before being caught bypolice. Now, a Winnipeg vegan businesswomanwants to make sure Mercy, as she'saffectionatelynamed the pig, gets a shot at a longlife outside with no trips to theabattoir in sight.

Mercy was running around a grassy area near thePerimeter Highway and Portage Avenue during the morning rush hour.

A number of drivers stopped their vehiclesand got out to try helping tocorral Mercy shortly before 9 a.m.Police also came to the rescue and eventually, the swine was seized and leashed.

Charlotte Sigurdson, who owns cosmetic vegan companyHogwash Bath and Body, heard about the pig andwanted to have her moved to a pig sanctuary. Sigurdson started a GoFundMe page for Mercy Friday night andhopes by helping thepig,she'll raise awareness aboutanimal rights.

"I hope that this will not only help Mercy, but also help raise awareness about the conditions a lot of farm animals live in," she said. "As you can see from the photos, she wasn't in a good condition, she had a lot of visible injuries."

The Manitoba Pork Council calledit an unusual situation.

"We're not exactly sure but the good thing is we have a pretty good traceability system in Canada, so we should be able to figure out where the pig came from," said Mark Flynn, an animal care specialist with Manitoba Pork.

"Right now we're going to take it off to a farm just to make sure it has a chance to recover and get over this."

Sigurdson said she was touched by Mercy's strange story.

"This one pig escaped, and you know it's a very brave thing for a pig to do, and she got out and she ran away and she got that taste of freedom," saidSigurdson."Really it was heartbreaking ...the thought of her going into confinement."

Sigurdson saidthe group is working with Manitoba Pig Save and the pork council to ensure Mercy makes her way to a sanctuary.

Twenty percent from Sigurdson's sale of her products over the weekend will go toward covering expenses for transporting Mercy to a sanctuary.

Sigurdson wasat Handsome Daughter at 61 Sherbrook street, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday, she will be at The Forks.

As of Saturday night, the GoFundMepage had raised over $2,200.

It isn't known how the pig ended up on near thehighway.