Remembering Mike Pigg / The Man Who Loved Pets (All Pets)

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

May is National Pet Month – by Pauline Masson

The late Mike Pigg could occasionally raise eyebrows with his outspoken advocacy for a favorite cause, but one thing about him won the hearts and minds of admirers and detractors alike. He loved pets – everybody’s pets.

Mike was an advocate and animal lover who shared the pet store he and wife Jill operated for 17 years, with their daughters Samantha, Mary Beth and Jaymee, who was one month old when the store opened. Joining the family in the store were Rosie their basset hound and Baby, a blue and gold macaw that would enthrall customers with his extensive vocabulary. 

Rosie and Baby were later joined as permanent pet store greeters by Riley, an abandoned sulcata land tortoise, whose shell had collapsed due to an improper diet, that Mike rescued. Riley became something of a local legend when he and Mike became regular visitors a local schools.

And the pet store became a favorite field trip location as the community was welcomed to view the collection of fish, birds, and small critters. But Mike turned the pet store into a world of exotic animals where the Pigg girls showed off ferrets, bearded dragons and slithery creatures like the ball pythons.

Mike gained a smattering of national fame for our town – and the attention of businesses and pet care organizations across the region – with his 2008 rescue of pets displaced by a devastating flood.

In late March, 2008, the Meramec River spilled out of it banks and flooded Old Town Pacific all the way to Orleans Street. On Mar. 22 the river crested at 29.60 feet, making it the third worst flood in recorded history, topped only by floods in 1982,  and later 2015 and 2017.

Two reporters for the Los Angeles Times newspaper visited Pacific during that flood and found Mike manning the sand bag station in the commuter lot. Their report brought front page stories across the U.S. showing Pacific and its experience with the flood that filled 35 businesses and 184 homes, sending families and their pets scurrying for high ground.

The community soon learned that Mike had a lot more on his mind than sand bags.

He worried about how families would care for their pets when living in temporary housing. He put out the word that he and Jill would provide free care for dogs and cats displaced by the flood

He installed outside pens next to the pet store, lined them with straw and covered them with tarps to protect pets from the weather.  As word spread about the free shelter more and more dogs and cats had arrived at the shelter.

The community also was quick to step in and help. Orscheln Farm and Home store donated fence posts, zip ties and tarps. Tom Wolf, owner of Wolf Hardware and his two sons Jeff and Scott arrived to help Mike set up the kennels. Ralston Purina closed it dog and cat facility and delivered all the left over food to the shelter.

Mike began sleeping at the pet store to monitor the animals around the clock. At the height of the rescue effort, the temporary shelter held 16 dogs, five cats, a bunny, fish and a Quaker parrot. He operated the shelter for 40 days after the flood and welcomed owners to come by and visit their pets.

The rescue effort landed the couple on national television and resulted in some dogs showing up without owners.

 A lady in Michigan, who lives on a fixed income saw the dogs on television and sent Mike a check for $10. Another man drove up from Herculaneum to donate $10. 

But there was more. A west coast animal lover who saw a television story about Mike Pigg at Pigg’s Pets providing shelter for animals displaced by rising water and telephoned Mike to say and said he wanted to do something to help. Mike explained that Pacific was a small city with a small budget and a makeshift animal control vehicle and pound that could accommodate eight dogs and twelve cats. The man said he would donate a real animal transport unit. 

He donated to the city a four-compartment animal carrier, complete with padded safety doors to protect animals, powered overhead ventilation and interior lights. But Mike had to get the unit to Pacific. In a flurry of phone calls he located two over-the-road truckers who brought the unit to Pacific at no cost to the city. It took two years for Mike to locate a Ford Ranger – the only truck that could accommodate the carrier -to carry the transport unit and get the cost of the truck in the city budget.

Once paid for, Dave Clapper at Show Me Auto Body removed the Ranger bed and welded the unit to the frame and completely repainted the unit. Paul Stojeba at Sign Experts affixed the Pacific logo and striped the vehicle.

Mike was also an advocate for the Pacific Police Department and was instrumental in the addition of drug sniffing dogs to the department. The canine became heroes in their own right, removing huge caches of drugs from city streets.

He left an indelible image of an alderman with strong viewpoints, but the strongest image he left our city is that of pet lover and for that he should be remembered.

Mike died March 27, 2020 but not before he experienced one fo the greatest joys of his life when his daughter Jaymee gave his a grandson Jaxson. The grandfather and grandson were inseparable.