Pigs: that's what's causing the fuss in a Burrell Boom neighborhood. A group of families are complaining about a pigsty that has come up in their neighborhood and they say it's just too close for comfort. They've been living under the stench for months and after no help from their village council or the health department they turned to the media. Trust us, it's a story you have to smell to truly believe but we'll do our best with pictures.
Lillian Dawson, Living Near Pig Sty
"When you go and eat your food you smell it and it suffocates you. You can't stand it. When I go to work and when I come back home I want to relax - you want that fresh breeze but instead you don't feel the fresh breeze, you just smell that pig scent; that stinking thing."
And Burrell Boom Villager Lillian Dawson says the stench is coming from this
pigsty filled with 7 pigs, which sits in her backyard. Well it's in her neighbor's yard really but its just 30 feet from her kitchen. Lillian invited the 7NEWS team to smell the sty's stench which she claims is suffocating her family - including her one year old daughter.
Lillian Dawson,
"My kitchen is over that side and the pigs are over that side. The problem is that when I cook, then I have to left my window open and I have to inhale all the scent. Even when we are sleeping, my bedroom is next to it and it's suffocating us. I want something done about the pigs."
Eddy Dawson, Living Near Pig Sty
"Sometimes I reach home from work and the first as I reach home is the pig scene. Sometimes friends come by and they ask me how I live with this. Then my kids are the main thing and they can't stand it. It has to go. My baby who is one year old and three year old daughter live here. I don't know what it could do to them. I mean we are old. We could talk about how it affects us but they are small, they are young."
Gasman Dawson, Living Near Pig Sty
"That is my little grand baby. You see how small they are and its affecting them bad. If its affecting me, it has to affect them worse. It affects me bad because whenever the breeze blows that side there, it affects me. It smells bad, it stinks, and it could sicken me."
And its not just the Dawson family complaining. Another Burrell Boom villager Derek Stewart says they have been complaining about the scent for months.
Derek Stewart, Living Near Pig Sty
"The pigs are so…the scent is so high that it causes 24/7 disturbances. If you want to look right around here this drain runs right into these people's yard so during the rainy season, which is now on, it is worst. We are making a great effort to deal with it. I don't know what else to do. It is just frustrating. Right now is a good day and trust me you can smell it so what do you think of the other days when it is worse."
But just how bad could it be? These villagers swear you have to smell it to believe it. They also say they aren't ganging up on their neighbor and just really want something most of us take for granted….fresh air.
Eddy Dawson,
If you're raising pigs you're supposed to have pigs on the farm, not amongst people. We are human beings. I could understand if you have one pig or so but an amount of pigs like that is too much scent. We can't stand it."
Keith Swift,
Some people will say why don't you just close your window?
Lillian Dawson,
"You will still smell the scent."
Keith Swift,
Some people will say buy a fan.
Lillian Dawson,
"We have fan."
Keith Swift,
Some people will say move.
Lillian Dawson,
"Well we can't move because we've been here for 11 years."
Keith Swift,
What will make you and your wife happy?
Eddy Dawson,
"When all the pigs go. No scent, fresh breeze."
Gasman Dawson,
"We would want to live with it but we can't. You smell it? You like it? You like this village life?"
Under the Village Council Act, rearing pigs or any livestock within a village is actually illegal. Burrell Boom's Village Council chairman Niall Gillett says he has received no formal complaint but on his own initiative, he is investigating the situation. He might not need to do much investigation because the pigs' owner told us that they should be gone - perhaps unto pigville - in a week.
