Gales Point Manatee Man Dies After Being Attacked by Pig

News broke out of Gales Point Manatee on Sunday when a man died after receiving a large cut wound from a pig’s tusk. The village has been grappling for some time now over an issue of pigs and livestock not properly contained.  Just after noon, a pig belonging to a nearby resident strayed into 46-year-old Anthony Andrewin’s yard. Andrewin attempted to chase the pig but instead saw the pig pursue him aggressively. Eventually, the pig’s tusk cut Andrew’s in the back of the leg, rupturing an artery.  Love News spoke with the village Chairman, Jason Altschaft over the weekend, who said that Andrewin died on the way to the hospital.

Jason Altschaft, Chairman, Gales  Point Manatee: “He was unchecked at a broke through fence so the people have been given up on penning them and Mr. Anthony Andrewin tried to chase the pig out of his yard today and instead of the pig running the pig charged at him, attacked him, bit him in the back of the leg which cut his artery to his leg which caused a massive amount of bleeding. They rushed him to the hospital but unfortunately Mr.Andrewin passed away on the way to the hospital. So yeah, not a good situation at all and one that could have been avoided we just didn’t realize the severity. I mean there was an adult male pig probably around 400 pounds and of course had two big tusks so he was able to just quickly slice the man’s leg, bit him basically and then in biting him he severed the artery there.”

Altschaft says he hopes that other villages will take heed of the unfortunate incident and take proper precautions with respect to livestock.  

Jason Altschaft, Chairman, Gales  Point Manatee: “Well, unfortunately we lost a villager unnecessarily to a domestic pig today. This is a great example for all of Belize to understand that pigs are technically not allowed to live in a village.  And this is showing us what exactly happens when they’re allowed to live in the village. We’ve had an animal issue in the village for a while, starting with sheep and horses, and it’s always been an issue but then a couple families brought pigs in and then everybody got excited about having pigs so all sorts of families had pigs but then they weren’t keeping them penned up. Some were trying to keep them penned up and some still do have some pinned up.  But then others that weren’t as responsible let them roam and the pigs had learned even to break through water pipes to get at water. So this was an issue we had been trying to bring to the forehead but of course in villages you have to, there’s balancing that goes on and unfortunately we should have, I wish we’d have done something different because now it’s too late. So don’t let this happen to your village.”

Love News has confirmed that the pig has since been killed and its remains burned. Police say that they are looking for the owner, as part of an ongoing investigation.