FFA student battling HOA to keep pig

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX (KTRK) -- She kept an FFA pig behind her Montgomery County home last year.

But now a 15 year old girl and her parents are in a fight to do it again.

Emily Fotheringham and her mother Katrina Burgess say the Riverlake Shores homeowner's association denied their initial request to have the pig, which is a requirement, according to the subdivision's covenants, conditions and restrictions.

Burgess says they've already built a pen as the HOA demanded. But now she says they're requiring them to build a berm around that pen and make other improvements they feel are unnecessary.

A representative with the Riverlake Shores HOA says they have concerns about the pig's proximity to a waterway which runs very close to where the pen is located. Director Bobby Gatewood tells us they have environmental concerns. Gatewood, however, says he is not opposed to FFA animals being kept in the neighborhood under the right conditions. He claims Burgess did not make requested improvements last year and says that is primarily the reason for the request this time.

Burgess says her daughter is losing precious time she could be spending with and training the pig if it were kept on their property. Right now its being cared for near Huntsville, more than an hour from their home.