Pig Pablo wants your leftover pumpkins this holiday season
By Tony Geftos
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REDFORD TWP., Michigan (WXYZ) — Trick-or-treating may be over, but one Redford Township resident is still looking for a treat.
Pablo the pig has an appetite for pumpkins, and his owner, Derek Bias, is asking the community to donate leftover ones for Pablo to enjoy.
Bias said he had always wanted a pig and decided to make it happen for his birthday.
“So I said, ‘I’m gonna go get a potbelly pig for my birthday,’” Bias said.
Without telling his children what he had planned, Bias took them to Indiana, where the family picked up Pablo. Four years later, the potbellied pig is part of the family.
Pablo isn’t just a backyard pet. Bias said he’s a house pig who is potty trained and goes outside to use the bathroom.
“If there’s snow on the ground, he won’t go outside, but he’ll use a litter box,” Bias said.
Pablo also enjoys plenty of attention from his family.
“He’s a very handsome boy. He’s very snuggly,” Bias said. “He loves to get scratchy scratches. He loves to get his belly rubbed.”
That belly rub even has a name in the Bias household.
“We call it a piggy melt where if you rub his belly, he literally just flops over,” Bias said.
Every fall, Pablo gets another favorite treat: Fresh pumpkins.
“They’re more of a treat for him,” Bias said. “They’re good for deworming him so they keep him healthy, and he just absolutely loves devouring them.”
The pumpkins provide entertainment, too.
“They’re a good toy for him to roll around the backyard, and then he’ll stomp ’em and then bite into ’em, and then that’s when he gets into them,” Bias said.
Bias said he plans to stew some of the leftover pumpkins, freeze them and feed them to Pablo throughout the year.
Anyone interested in donating needs to make sure the pumpkins haven’t been carved or treated with chemicals.
“They cannot be carved. They can’t be dipped in peroxide or bleach, no cleaning products, basically, just a whole pumpkin,” Bias said.
People who want to donate can reach out to Bias through the TikTok account he manages for Pablo: Pablo the Pig.
“Every year, the community has been great donating to him,” Bias said.
For Pablo, Halloween may be over, but pumpkin season is just getting started.
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