A Chilliwack man whose illegal pet pig died in 2021 after it had to be re-homed due to a bylaw violation has started a petition called Hamson鈥檚 Law.

The goal is to change a Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) bylaw to allow people to have pigs as pets in Chilliwack and beyond, Eli Gagne said.

He and his family had a pig named Hamson on their property in Chilliwack for about a year and a half, from December 2019 to August 2021. He was just 12 weeks old when they got him.

Gagne got a call from animal control with the FVRD on Aug. 5, 2021 after a neighbour made a complaint about the 70-pound miniature pot-bellied pig in Gagne鈥檚 backyard.

According to the FVRD bylaw, livestock are not allowed as pets within a residence or on real property.

Details of the complaint were not revealed to Gagne and he was given a week to re-home Hamson, or face a fine of $100 per day.

The family was forced to find a new home for Hamson, so they relocated him to a hobby farm in Kelowna on Aug. 8, 2021.

Four hours after arriving at his new home, Hamson died.

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鈥淚t鈥檚 bad enough to have to be re-homed, but then passing away because of stress and anxiety,鈥� Gagne said during an interview with The Chilliwack Progress in 2021.

He died because of the move, Gagne said, adding he couldn鈥檛 find a local farm that would take Hamson.

鈥淣o farm in the area would take him because he鈥檚 not considered livestock by their standards,鈥� Gagne said.

He said there鈥檚 a 鈥済rey area鈥� in the bylaw and FVRD should make a distinction between a pig in a residential area that is a pet and one that is livestock.

He has now started a petition to amend Bylaw No. 1206 to allow for the keeping of one, two or three pigs 鈥� classified as livestock as pets 鈥� on private property.

It鈥檚 called 鈥楬amson鈥檚 Law - A petition to allow for pigs to be kept as pets.鈥�

鈥淯nderstanding there are reasons why pigs are not to be kept on 鈥榬eal property鈥� it is possible to do so in a manner that minimizes these issues,鈥� the reads.

Gagne said Hamson was cared for like a family dog and he and his family loved him like a pet.

鈥淭he issues of keeping livestock on real property, such as noise issues and manure disposal can be rectified by an individual if they have the mind to do so 鈥� as the Gagnes did, and as any reasonable adult should be able to do,鈥� the petition states. 鈥淚t is also not the regional district鈥檚 business which animal a family chooses to love, if that family does so in a responsible manner.鈥�

To read and sign the petition, go to .