Assisted only by a motorized wheelchair, meager income and kind souls, Lory Yazurlo runs Pig Tales Sanctuary in a remote area of Flagler County. Since opening the sanctuary 15 years ago, Yazurlo has collected around 400 pigs. However, state and county officials believe the pig sanctuary is less of a swine paradise and more a breading ground for viruses that could harm humans. They also believe that the pigs are not being cared for properly. So, they've decided to euthanize all 400.
Yazurlo's story was told in the 2007 documentary When Pigs Fly. A truck accident in 1991 left her paralyzed from the waist down. A devout vegetarian who refuses to see any animal hurt, Yazurlo then set out to turn a 20 acre strip of land into a pig paradise even if it meant living the rest of her life in financial destitution.
Reports The News-Journal:
A court order sought by the State Attorney's Office transferred the ownership of the animals kept at the Pig Tales Sanctuary to Flagler County late Tuesday, said county spokesman Carl Laundrie.The court also convicted Yazurlo of "cruelty to animals and unlawful abandonment or confinement of animals" and forbid her from "having custody, supervision, possession or responsibility for the care of the pigs" or from owning any pigs during her twelve-month probation.
...
Within the week, all of the pigs will be rounded up, removed from the property and euthanized, said Mark Fagan with the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Yazurlo is hoping to appeal the decision, but officials are already moving forward on their plans. They first must try to make the animals more human friendly before rounding them all up to be humanely killed.
As for Yazurlo, a relative in the documentary states that "if they took the land, I think it would kill her."
