Unusual pig purchased by Ripley’s

This stillborn pig was sold in January to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, which has 30 mueums around the country. Where the pig will be displayed has yet to be announced.
NEW PROVIDENCE – Last January on a Sunday afternoon, Andrea Brown was told by her husband Paul, “You’ve got to see this pig.”
The Browns live on a farm near New Providence in Hardin County raising both grain and livestock.
What Paul Brown wanted his wife to see was a stillborn pig that looked normal around the head and shoulders but had two rear ends and eight legs.
Andrea Brown e-mailed their oldest son Derek, a member of the Iowa State University livestock judging team that was in Colorado on a judging event, to tell him of the unusual pig.
“I thought that was the end of it,” said Andrea Brown.

Andrea Brown, of New Providence, stands next to the pigs on the Brown farm that will not be going to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum.
Derek Brown wrote his mother back saying she should contact Ripley’s Believe It Or Not to see if they were interested.
Andrea Brown went to Ripley’s website the next day and found a place to submit a form if they had something of interest.
She had a reply within an hour saying Ripley’s was interested in the pig and what price they wanted for it.
She was not sure what price to put on a stillborn pig with eight legs and two rear ends. Husband Paul suggested $20 and their son Landon, a high school sophomore, said to price it at $500.
She split the difference and told Ripley’s Believe It Or Not a price of $250. Ripley’s accepted their price without hesitation.
“I guess my asking price was too low,” Brown said.
Ripley’s said it would send packing materials to the Browns with an address of where to send the pig. Meanwhile it wen into the freezer.
A check arrived from Ripley’s and a month later, the packing materials arrived with the shipping address.
“It was a huge box with lots of cold packs,” Brown said.
She believes it took Ripley’s a month to set up a taxidermist who would do the work for them.
In mid-February the frozen pig was shipped by to an address in the state of New York.
The Browns are waiting to hear where the mounted pig will be put on display. Brown said Ripley’s has 30 museums in the U.S. with more in foreign countries.
The pig has created a subject for the Browns to talk about with the story picked up by their local newspaper and an area radio station.
Paul Brown posted a message on the coffee talk section on the Red Power website forum for International Harvester fans where it received many replies.
What else has happened since that Sunday last January?
Brown said if this happens again, they will be contacting Ripley’s again.
“Lesson learned – when you have an animal freak of nature – don’t be too quick to dispose of it,” she said.
Brown said her husband told her from now on she can be in charge of selling dead pigs.
Contact Clayton Rye at crye@wctatel.net.
- Andrea Brown, of New Providence, stands next to the pigs on the Brown farm that will not be going to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum.