2007 is the Chinese year of the pig, and having pig pets in Russia is becoming just as fashionable as dogs and cats. For pet owners and followers of fashion, the only thing to be seen with this year is a pig.

Vyacheslav Komov has a Vietnamese Potbelly pig farm just outside Saint-Petersburg.

The price for a pedigree pig with a passport at Komov's farm ranges from $US 500 to $US 1000. However, there has been huge interest in pigs lately and the farm is doing very well.
 
“They don't need any special care, expensive meat, shampoo or haircuts and hair styles like dogs. So, they are very easy to keep and quite unpretentious,” the farmer explains.

Komov’s customers are fashionable young people who seem to be proud of walking a pig instead of a dog.

Lubov Talyzina, general director of a construction company, brings her two year old pig Kuzya to the office.  Lubov bought Kuzya at Komov's farm for $US 500, but he is worth at least twice as much now, since hehas been trained by an animal trainer.

Moreover, the piglets produced at the farm are sold out before they are even born. That shows people want to be lucky and pig pets have become the talisman of the year 2007.