Fugitive 'Kevin Bacon' is collared

WOOLWICH The runaway pig dubbed "Kevin Bacon" by his fans in Gloucester County has been captured after seven weeks on the lam.

County animal control officers finally took the pig into custody Wednesday after being called to a property in Woolwich Township, county spokeswoman Debra Sellitto said.

The porcine fugitive has been placed in the custody of the Gloucester County Animal Shelter, which is working to find it a home with a rescue organization.

Sellitto said its previous owner had given up custody of the animal.

The fast-moving pig had eluded capture since escaping Sept. 3 in Woolwich, earning a fan base that followed his exploits on a Facebook page that dubbed him Kevin Bacon, after the Philadelphia-born actor.

The pig's adventures started after a group of students from Kingsway Regional High School in Woolwich bought him for $50 with the intention of making him a mascot.

They named him Dubbs, after Edward Dubbs, the school's assistant principal.

Fifteen minutes after the students returned to senior Shane Murray's house in Swedesboro, Dubbs escaped, jumping out of a temporary pen.

In the following days, the pig reemerged, sometimes seeming to pose for photographs. Some residents who spotted him but did not know to whom he belonged created a Facebook page devoted to the latest sightings. They posted pictures of him chowing down food. And they named him Kevin Bacon.

The real Kevin Bacon caught wind of his footloose namesake and could not resist the opportunity to weigh in.

"Apparently I'm on the loose," @kevinbacon tweeted with a link to the Inquirer story on the runaway.

- Joseph Gambardello