Sunday 31 October 2010

Really? I’m Having A Turkey…

…but then, I am a traditionalist*:
Graeme MacPherson, head of West Sussex Trading Standards, said: “Micro pigs are again in the spotlight as one of this year’s must-have Christmas presents.”
Devilishly hard to wrap, though…

Three cheers for the Trading Standards staff, though, for warning you against buying a pig in…err, a poke:
“There is no cast iron guarantee the pig you buy will stop growing at a certain size – and for a seller to state otherwise could be a deceptive statement and a breach of the law.”
And three cheers for the council, devoting valuable time and webspace to providing a guide!
A guide on keeping pet pigs is available from the county council website at www.westsussex.gov.uk.
That’s what we pay our taxes for, right?

* Yes, I know. It should be a goose. I’m a young traditionalist….

5 comments:

MTG said...

I speak from personal experience of the pros and cons of owning one of these Micro-pigs. They can be very cute and attractive; so much so that you may get bitten in a matter of moments but there are hidden medical and other costs, for which you need to carefully budget.

In the first year I noticed considerable girth growth in my pet, accompanied by poor personal hygiene and messy habbits. This only got worse as the thing kept growing right up to the point of divorce.

Mark Wadsworth said...

That's absolutely brilliant marketing.

I think I'll start selling "micro pythons" "micro crocodiles" and "micro ducks" which are in fact just baby animals.

microdave said...

"and for a seller to state otherwise could be a deceptive statement and a breach of the law."

What, you mean telling PORKIES???

dr cromarty said...

Ah, yes, Trading Standards. We've had a builder screw us out of £13k with demonstrably misleading claims who even went out his way to prejure himself in court. TS wouldn't lift a finger. Too busy with this shit presumably. Useless bastards. Always the low-hanging fruit.

JuliaM said...

"This only got worse as the thing kept growing right up to the point of divorce."

:D

"That's absolutely brilliant marketing."

Indeed. But I'm not sure brilliant marketing is ever really needed in this country. It seems people will buy anything!

"What, you mean telling PORKIES???"

*chuckle*

"TS wouldn't lift a finger. Too busy with this shit presumably. Useless bastards. Always the low-hanging fruit."

As with, it seems, almost all public services these days. Though I was surprised to see that the police raided a traveller camp the other day to try to find stolen dogs.

They didn't find any, but I was surprised they even tried. Then surprised at my surprise - isn't this, after all, what they should be doing?