Biker pig pays price of love

He wasn't the first guy to get turned on by a Harley-Davidson. But he may have been the first to get castrated for his passion.

Chi-Chi, a 50-pound pig on heat who escaped from a sty in Key West, Florida, was found locked in a rubbing embrace with the front wheel of what bikers call a "Hog," a shiny new Harley.

After prising the passionate pig off, police hauled him away to the local animal shelter and sentenced him to be neutered. The free-spirited residents of Key West were outraged. "What guy hasn't looked at a Harley in a showroom and not had a sensual thought? These are kinda sexy machines," said Ed Swift, a local tourism agent. A "Save Chi-Chi" movement was launched and a fund-raising party was planned for next week in the Hog's Breath saloon.

The outcry failed to save the piggy privates. Chi-Chi was castrated by officials at the animal centre. But the protest did save his life. Now Chi-Chi has a new home, a modelling assignment, that will help pay his bills, and he's been deluged with invitations to appear on TV shows.