78-Year-Old Arkansas Man Fights to Keep Pet Pig picture Kevin Pieper, The Baxter Bulletin / AP

An Arkansas man has asked a judge to decide the fate of his arthritic pet potbellied pig, Joker.

Less than a week after Wilferd Kallhoff, 78, moved to a subdivision in Mountain Home, Ark., police told him the pig had to go because the city prohibits hogs and other farm animals, the Baxter Bulletin reports.

A trial is set for June 29.

Joker, a Swedish potbellied pig who weighs about 200 pounds, is a well-mannered pet, Kallhoff tells Paw Nation. He spends his days inside a four-foot-high chain-link pen in the backyard, sleeps on blankets in the garage, and never barks, bites or leaves the property. The animal likes children, especially when they feed him popcorn, and never wallows in mud, Kallhoff said. He never eats table scraps (being limited to popcorn, bananas and pig feed).

"I'm not saying he smells perfect, but he doesn't smell any worse than a dog does," Kallhoff said.

Kallhoff spoke with an official at City Hall to make sure his pet was allowed before moving to Mountain Home a few weeks ago from the city of Salem. "She said you can't have hogs," he said. "It doesn't say anything about potbellied pigs. She said 'As long as nobody complains, I guess it will be OK.'"

But Kallhoff had barely moved in when a neighbor reported the pig in the yard to City Hall. The police gave him five days to find Joker a new home.

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