500 pigs — many malnourished, some pregnant — found on Kentucky farm

FALMOUTH, Ky. (CNN) — Animal groups are trying to find homes for hundreds of pigs.

They were found on a Kentucky farm after a woman could not properly take care of them. The Pendleton County farm had more than 500 pigs.

Cotton Branch Farm Animal Sanctuary in Leesville, South Carolina, is helping find homes for the pigs. Representatives of the animal sanctuary said the woman leasing the farm property took in 15 pigs a few years ago, ultimately resulting in so many she could not handle all of them.

Joshua Carpenter Costner of Cotton Branch said, “It multiplies, multiplies, multiplies — so when you have 10 pigs who give birth, then they each have six to 10 pigs who now could possibly give birth.”

Carpenter Costner said people living nearby saw the pigs roaming free and notified authorities. When he arrived, Carpenter Costner found many pigs malnourished and several of them pregnant. 

“If they’re not properly vetted, if they’re not spayed or neutered, it just continues ballooning and ballooning and ballooning until it’s out of control and what we’ve found on multiple cases like this that we’ve worked is it ends up with animals dying of starvation. It ends up with, you know, horrible illnesses,” he said. 

The organization has about six weeks to find homes for the animals before the state will euthanize them.

It was not clear clear if authorities will charge the woman who owns the pigs.