Pig Earns Death Sentence After Serious Attack

TOWNSEND, MA — A man who was seriously injured after being attacked by a pig on his family farm Tuesday evening has been upgraded to stable condition and is expected to survive. The pig, however, will not.

A woman and man were both attacked by the same boar at two different times of the day on Tuesday evening. Around 5:52 p.m., police, fire and EMS responded to 188 Fitchburg Road in Townsend for a report that a male pig had injured and wounded a woman. The 38-year-old woman had lacerations on her body from the attack. She was transported to Leominster Hospital for treatment.

Later, at 7:29 p.m., rescuers were called back to the same location for a report of a man who had gotten more serious injuries from the same animal. Police, Fire, and EMS personnel arrived to find a 50-year-old man with very serious injuries.

Due to the nature of the victim’s injuries, a medical helicopter was requested, however the weather conditions changed that. The victim was transported by Townsend EMS to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester with life-threatening injuries.

The animal, an adult boar, or male pig, had originally been quarantined pending further evaluation.

The Townsend Police Department is meeting with Townsend Animal Control Warden Mary Letourneau, the Animal Rescue League, the Massachusetts State Veterinarian, a local veterinarian and the Massachusetts State Animal Inspector to conduct a further investigation into the incident.

After conferring with these authorities and the owner of the pig, the decision has been made to euthanize the animal and conduct a test for rabies. The rabies test is being performed out of an abundance of caution, said officials.