Oinky the giant pig will have to leave his family's Gold Coast home within four weeks, the council has decided.
The Gold Coast City Council has decided that Oinky breaks the law because he is living on land of a size smaller than one acre. Local law dictates that "a permit is required to keep an animal" like Oinky, and due to a neighbour's complaint that law has been strictly enforced.
One and a half-year-old Oinky was originally bought as a therapy pet for Jacob Fellows, who has autism and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Speaking to Seven News, Jacob said that the 170-kilogram pig means a lot to him.
"I like to help him, you know, make sure he doesn't forget about me," he said, "He saves my life".
Jacob's mother Donna Fellows even shared that "there's been times when Oinky has actually cried with Jacob".
In the months before the local council decision, a 'Save Oinky' campaign was launched on Facebook by Jacob's brother.
The page explains that a 900-person long petition was handed in to the local council in the hopes that it would sway the decision. They also supplied the council with letters from Jacob's psychologist and a personal letter from Jacob himself.
One viral Instagram post was liked more than 13,000 times.
The Facebook campaign concluded with a post hoping that their supporter's "protests are peaceful", and places further blame on the Fellows' neighbour.
"Always treat your neighbours with respect and never be as horrible as our next door neighbour was."