Mayor de Blasio saved his own bahis sitesi bacon on Tuesday – and gave Wilbur the pig a reprieve.
City Hall succumbed to pressure from animal lovers across Gotham, and said it won’t seize Wilbur – a Staten Island therapy pig targeted for removal by health department officials who insist the swine’s not allowed to live with humans.
The city had told Cristy Matteo, 46, that Wilbur had to be out of her Great Kills home by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday – or else.
Matteo claims Wilbur as a therapy pig for 76-year-old dad Thomas Matteo, who suffers from melanoma after already having beaten thyroid cancer.
The city was in full backtrack mode on Tuesday afternoon.
“The Mayor was made aware of the circumstances and directed officials to find a reasonable solution,” de Blasio’s spokeswoman Rosemary Boeglin said.
“The Health Department is not taking any enforcement actions at this time, but is working closely with the family to find a safe and suitable home for Staten Island’s favorite swine in the coming months.”
Still, Cristy Matteo greeted City Hall’s reprieve with a slab of skepticism.
She and her lawyer got word of Wilbur’s stay of eviction from The Post – and haven’t heard a peep from City Hall in months.
“I haven’t heard from them at all,” Matteo fumed. ” I just want to make sure everything’s going to be OK. I want something in writing, just saying he can officially stay. I want it in writing because I’m afraid they’re just saying this to be nice so the public is Holiganbet going to go away for a week and they’re going to come back and say, alright we’re taking him.”
She fears a middle-of-the-night swine seizure by huffing-and-puffing city authorities.
“I just want to know that Wilbur is safe. I would drop dead if they came and knocked on my door tonight, or tomorrow, or next week, and said, ‘We’re taking him,’ ” Matteo said.
“I don’t trust them. Nobody has reached out to me at all, other than press. It’s frustrating. They’re acting like they’re my best friend but they’re not. Nope, I haven’t heard from one city agency since September.”
State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Queens), a mayoral candidate and ardent animal supporter, also questioned de Blasio’s late reprieve for Wilbur.
“It was nice to hear that Mayor de Blasio acknowledged the case of Wilbur,” according to a statement from Avella’s office.
“However, to say that the Department of Health is `working closely with the family to find a safe and suitable home’ for Wilbur is nothing short of a blatant lie. At no point during the day did Health reach out to the family or try to help in any way. Throughout this entire process, Health has only tried to separate Wilbur from the Matteo family.”
Even if the city still wants Wilbur to eventually move, the pig’s lawyer said she’s grateful for the extra time to hash out a solution.
“I’m extremely happy that a timeout has been called,” said Matteo and Wilbur’s lawyer Carol Ryder. “We’d like to thank the mayor and all our supporters across social media and media for their help.”
Additional reporting by Nick Fugallo
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