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Wayward pig shows up at New Hampshire polling place

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A 600-pound pig was seen at a polling place in New Hampshire.

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Call it the "Pelham primary pig."

A 600-pound sow sauntered toward a polling place in the town of Pelham, N.H., Tuesday morning as voters turned out to cast their ballots in the New Hampshire primary.

"There was a hub-bub outside, and when I looked, there was this huge pig walking around in the parking lot," said Matthew Reiter, 50, who was working a construction job at the high school where voting was taking place. "It caused a bit of a stir."

At first, Reiter said, he thought the pig's presence was part of a gag, given the escapades that have led up to the primaries. Or maybe, he thought, its owner was inside, exercising his or her constitutional right to vote.

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But Reiter soon realized the pig had arrived on its own.

According to the Pelham Police Department, the large pig showed up outside of the high school around 9:08 a.m.

Reiter, who took several videos of the pig sniffing around near the building's entrance, said police tried hard to corner the animal and get it away from the voting public and students at the school who were curious about the strange visitor.

"They followed him around for 45 minutes," Reiter said. "At one point, it became belligerent, and started to get snippy with people. It was grunting and squealing and snapping at people."

Pelham officers determined that the pig came from a local farm and contacted its owner, according to a press release.

The owner eventually came to the high school, put a rope around the pig's neck, and escorted it out of the area.

"It was just a farmer and his pig, taking a stroll," Reiter said. "With a two squad-car escort."

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Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.