Fred, the 400-pound outlaw hog that ran loose in Aurora and wreaked havoc on yards and landscaping for four days while evading capture, has a new home on a school farm.

Augusta Allen with Aurora Animal Services said they first got a call about Fred on the loose near Tower Road and Colfax Avenue, just south of Green Valley Ranch, on Sept. 24.

Animal services chased Fred down for about four days, during which Fred traveled about 10 miles, tearing up lawns and digging up roots of plants along the way.

The team finally caught him at Alameda Parkway and Chambers Road, near the Aurora History Museum.

“He didn’t want to leave his holiday in the city,” Allen said, explaining that it took three parks and recreation employees, five animal control officers and a couple of bystanders to get 400-pound Fred into the trailer.

Usually, they can persuade animals with food. But Fred had all the fresh food he wanted in Aurora residents’ yards, Allen said.

Nobody reached out to the shelter to claim Fred, who Allen said had clearly been loved and well cared for in his last home. It is a mystery where he came from, she said.

While on the run, Fred committed several “crimes,” including tearing up yards and landscaping, breaking some sprinklers and running into heavily trafficked areas, Allen said.

However, his chaos could’ve been worse, with Allen saying they feared that the pig or a person trying to capture him would run into traffic.

Allen described Fred as being “like a 400-pound dog,” showing off a friendly, pet-like side once he got to the shelter.

“He was such a good boy,” Allen said. “I can’t even express how much fun it was to actually have him here.”

Fred loves his belly scratched and one of the volunteers brought him a pumpkin, the “best treat in the world” for Fred. They also provided him with small pools to play in, usually used for dogs in the summer.

He broke every pool they gave him, Allen said with a laugh.

“He was so funny and he even liked milk bones,” Allen said. “This pig was truly like more of a pet than a farm animal.”

Pig experts with the city guessed that Fred is between one and two years old, but can’t be exact, Allen said. Pigs like Fred have a natural lifespan of up to 18 years generally.

Once he was ready for adoption, Fred was a hot commodity and various sanctuaries, agencies and organizations wanted to give Fred a home. The shelter ended up choosing Eads High School in southeastern Colorado.

The high school has a farm and an agriculture education program, making it the “first choice… by nature of teaching children and giving something back to the community,” Allen said.

Justin Lenox, an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Eads High School, got a call from his dad about Fred while driving home from a livestock sale, he said.

Lenox jumped on his computer as soon as he got back to the school, read the articles online about Fred and sent an email to the shelter asking to take him if he was still available.

The shelter emailed Lenox back the next day, toured the farm at the school and decided it would be a good place for Fred. The school picked him up Oct. 13.

“It was one of those deals where I thought they’ll email me back and say he’s already taken because I assumed someone would jump on it super quick,” Lenox said. “We lucked out and were one of the first people to email.”

Fred’s role at Eads will be heat checking the females, seeing which female hogs are receptive to mating, Lenox said.

Eads students will be able to learn how to heat check animals and have a role in caring for Fred, along with the school’s other farm animals.

Fred is doing “great” at Eads so far, Lenox said, getting out and about from his pen everyday and enjoying life in his new home.

This wasn’t the first time Allen has seen unusual animals come into and out of the shelter, she said. In the past, they’ve had all kinds of reptiles, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, “you name it,” Allen said.

For larger livestock that are too big for the shelter to handle, like Fred, they use space at the Harmony Center, run by Dumb Friends League, she said.

Allen’s background also helped with the shelter’s care for Fred, since she grew up near Longmont and had family nearby with a hog farm. Having grown up around livestock translates well in shelter situations like Fred’s, she said.

“There’s a lot of nuances with livestock, and especially pigs, that not everybody knows, so having that background helped in making sure he had the best care possible while he was here,” Allen said.

Despite Fred having a new home, the shelter still has lots of animals available for adoption, Allen said, including cats, dogs and other smaller animals.

“We have a particularly special kitty cat that is completely blind that is in need of a home,” Allen said. “But we have lots and lots of animals that just need a loving home.”

Adoptable animals can be seen on the city shelter’s website, or people can stop by the shelter, 15750 E. 32nd Ave., to meet the animals.