Three little pigs were taken to Stewart Island, three little pigs did not return, and three little pigs will cry "Wee, wee, wee" when council officers come to take them all the way home.
Environment Southland is preparing to deport the three illegal immigrants next week, as pigs have been forbidden on the island since a revised Regional Pest Management strategy came into force in September last year.
But pig owner Gavin Ferguson (45) is refusing to kill the three 7-month-old Berkshire pigs, Boris, Kobi, and Marble, or return them to the mainland.
The two female pigs and one male were taken to the island on a Bluff fishing boat six months ago. Mr Ferguson had intended to establish a self-sufficient farm on his 4ha property at Ringaringa, he said.
It was hoped the 0.5ha fenced garden would help supply fruit and vegetables to his new restaurant, due to open in early December.
"It is expensive to get food over here", Mr Ferguson said.
The pigs would be fed scraps and would act "like tractors" in preparing the farm for planting, he said. Enclosed behind a deer fence and an electric fence, the pampered pigs were unlikely to escape to wreak havoc, he said.
Environment Southland biosecurity manager Richard Bowman said the pigs could do a lot of damage "and we don't want them there".
The council declined to grant an exemption for the pigs as they posed an environmental risk.
The notice of direction to remove or destroy the pigs expired on October 13 and Mr Ferguson had not replied to the council.
However, Mr Ferguson told the Otago Daily Times he planned to visit to Invercargill this morning to see the council.
Mr Ferguson has been given until 9am today to confirm all of the pigs have been destroyed or shifted off the island.
Otherwise, the council will begin proceedings to destroy or relocate the animals.
