MIAMI — Two baby pigs named Glinda and Elphaba took the spotlight in downtown Miami. These adorable piglets are safe from becoming a Christmas dinner for a Cuban American family, thanks to a public pardon by the mayor of Miami-Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava. The event is a local tradition inspired by the White House’s turkey pardoning ceremony at Thanksgiving. Glinda and Elphaba, named after characters from the musical “Wicked,” will live out their lives at an animal sanctuary in southern Miami.
During the ceremony outside Latin Cafe 2000, the two 4-month-old pigs showed little interest in the festivities or the crowd. The tan-and-black pair, resembling pudgy beagles in size, eagerly ate apple and orange slices but also seemed keen on munching on the plastic grass in their pen. They will spend the next 12 to 15 years at the animal sanctuary, away from the dinner table.
Glinda and Elphaba’s future at the sanctuary south of Miami seems bright, as they happily explored their enclosure while guests watched. The pair’s carefree attitude and their unique names from the famous musical have captured the hearts of many attendees. Being pardoned by the mayor ensures that these baby pigs will have a lifetime of safety and happiness.
If not for the pardons, they could have joined the thousands of their kind that will be barbecued whole on Tuesday in underground pits, on spits or in special metal boxes by families in Cuba, South Florida and elsewhere. They will become the “lechon asado” served during Nochebuena dinners.
“The holidays are definitely the favorite part of the year for me and for so many. It’s a time of gratitude. A time when we reunite with our families and our loved ones. And of course, good food, right? So important – but not a very good time to be a pig in Miami,” Levine Cava joked as she presented the proclamation giving Glinda and Elphaba permanent amnesty from barbecues.
Eric Castellanos, the Latin Cafe 2000’s owner, said the event started out as a joke among staff after seeing a news story about the presidential Thanksgiving pardon, “because we really don’t eat turkey here in Miami. We eat pork.”
“So we looked at each other and said, ‘Hey, someone should do this,'” Castellanos said. “The rest is history.”
Castellanos’ two kids, Rico and Alessandra, were in charge of picking out the piglets’ names.
Abbi Erkes, who moved to Miami four months ago, was one of a few dozen people who stopped to see Glinda and Elphaba and watch the ceremony.
“I’m from the Midwest, so I have been to my fair share of farms and seen a variety of different types of pigs, but these are cute ones,” Erkes said. “One of my best friends has lived here her whole life, and she’s been kind of teaching me about Cuban culture, Latin culture, and the things I need to be a full Miamian.”
After the ceremony, Glinda and Elphaba were driven to their new home, the 12th and 13th to receive pardons over the years.
The plastic grass never budged.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and restaurant owner Eric Castellanos feed 4-month-old pigs Glinda and Elphaba in Miami.
AP Photo/Terry Spencer
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Associated Press videojournalist Daniel Kozin contributed to this report.
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