Woman’s ‘Micro-Pig’ Turned Out to Be a 330-Pound Chonky Beast

While we all know that a certain farm animal comes to mind when we talk ham and bacon, their miniature versions just don’t draw that same association. From cafe owners and pet trainers to Ariana Grande, many have fallen under the spell of mini-pigs. More recently, the oinkers have also become a sleazecore symbol.

In 2018, Zhang Li, a young woman in Shanghai, decided to get herself a quirky pet after seeing an advertisement for Bamm mini-pigs. She couldn’t resist the piggy cuteness especially since she had heard that they would not grow to too big a size.

A couple of years later, her pet mini-pig, which Zhang named Black Rice Cake, turned out to be fully barrel-sized. Sporting a large saggy belly and black patches on its pale pink body, Black Rice Cake is now 1.5 meters long, and weighs a hefty 150 kilograms.

“It was a lapse in judgment,” she quipped in a video shot by 021 Shipin, the video branch of local news outlet Shanghai Morning Post.

Black Rice Cake subsists on a healthy diet of grains, vegetables, fruits, yogurt, and eggs. Following an incident where it had to undergo surgery for accidentally ingesting cotton, Black Rice Cake now wears a muzzle around the house.

Zhang also said that her mother adores her pet pig to bits — she constantly massages its belly and loves showing off Black Rice Cake on her social media account.

Black Rice Cake attracts a curious crowd whenever it goes on a walk around its neighborhood. After all, it’s not every day that you see a legitimately chonky pig trotting around the city, leashed like any other pet dog.

In January, another woman in China’s Liaoning Province made similar headlines when her 4-year-old teacup pig, promised to be around 20 kilograms by the seller, reportedly grew to a massive 175 kilograms.

The rising popularity of teacup pigs around the world has raised serious ethical questions — in some cases, pigs are intentionally underfed to stunt their growth. Some regular pig breeds are also falsely advertised as micro-pigs, which have caused pet owners much dismay when they realize that their pigs are grossly outgrowing their promised teacup sizes.

Zhang said that she will continue taking care of Black Rice Cake long into the future. As her story went viral, people are flooding social media with comments praising Zhang’s commitment to her massive pet pig.

“It’s not easy to choose not to abandon [the pig]. Good job,” wrote a Weibo user.

“[She] is so loving and responsible to be raising this pig all the way!,” said another.

It has yet to be confirmed what type of pig Black Rice Cake actually is, but what we know for sure is that it’s hogging all the food.

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