Meet the man walking his pet pigs around Cheltenham

If you're going to Pittville Park in Cheltenham on your daily exercise, you might be in for an unusual surprise.

Josh Townsend, 31, has been walking his pets Billy and Franklyn - or Frankie - on leads in the park.

But they are not dogs, they are tiny little hogs - micro pigs.

The IT manager, born and bred in Cheltenham (unlike his pigs), says Billy and Frankie are best friends who love a good walk and a belly scratch.

The micro pets are a mix of British pig breeds, and Josh changes between calling them 'micro' and 'mini' pigs.

He says this is because they are 'officially' mini pigs, but they're "commonly misrepresented in the media as 'micro', something he says leads to a lot of families getting a 'micro' pig not realising they could end up weighing between 50 and 300 kilos.

He said: "Strictly micro pigs, the ones you see on TV, don't exist, they're babies when you see them - you can get mini pigs which is as small as they get."

Josh says his boys are about the size of medium dogs, and have "no squish" which is what makes them so heavy. He says they're "rock hard".

And looking after these little guys is no small feat - Josh has multiple licences to look after the pigs as they are still "officially livestock".

osh said: "I bought Billy when visiting a mini pig farm, and they had a surprise litter they weren't expecting.

"We joined a mini pig Facebook group, we were in contact with Billy's brothers and sisters so you can compare how they're growing up.

"There was a lady on there and her granddaughter got given a micro pig for her birthday but they didn't know anything about it and didn't have the right licensing, that's how we got Franklyn."

As for walks in the park, Josh said he had to fill in multiple applications to get a route approved to walk them, which officers from Cheltenham Borough Council then go out and check before approving it.

"Because they're livestock it has to monitored where they are at all times to prevent spread of disease like foot and mouth.

"I had to get a separate licence for the route we walk, and permission.

"They can't go near food or bins basically, so no cafes or bins en route. They can't have any food that's been prepared in a kitchen because of disease. They have a really strict diet."

He added the pigs "couldn't have food from Tesco or Sainsbury's" and any vegetables they eat must come "straight from the farm".

The little porkers live off a main diet of pig pellets with farm vegetables as snacks.

All the effort is worth the reward of only for the friendship Josh says exists between the piggy pair.

He said: "They have their own personalities, and they're herd animals, which means they have to have a hierarchy. One of them has to be the boss and it's not pleasant watching them work this out but they have to.

"Billy's the boss because he much bigger, they basically have to fight and you think none of them are going to back down but they will. We integrated them slowly with pens next to each other and then onto similar grounds."

Mini pigs are expected to live between five to 10 years according to the RSPCA, but they can live up to 25 years if looked after well.

When asked if he had any advice for people thinking about adopting their own mini pig, Josh said "don't ever just get one pig".

He said: "They love human interaction and they need it 24/7, you can't even go to the shop for an hour.

"If you ever didn't give Billy the attention he wanted, he'd squeal at us. So Franklyn was necessary and amazing company for him."

You can follow Billy and Franklyn's adventures on Instagram @billythemicropig.