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Iowa governor pardons pig before bacon festival

Published: February 8, 2013 Comment on this article

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A young pig has won a reprieve from the frying pan just as Iowa's popular bacon festival is about to begin.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad pardoned the 30-pound, 2 ½-month-old Berkshire pig named Bonnie on Friday morning.

photo - Bonnie, a Berkshire breed pig about 2 1/2 months old, waits for Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to pardon her outside the governor's mansion Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 in Des Moines, Iowa. The pardon is a first for the governor and a celebration of the annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival that begins this weekend at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (AP Photo/Barbara Rodriguez)

Bonnie, a Berkshire breed pig about 2 1/2 months old, waits for Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to pardon her outside the governor's mansion Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 in Des Moines, Iowa. The pardon is a first for the governor and a celebration of the annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival that begins this weekend at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (AP Photo/Barbara Rodriguez)

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The pardon took place outside the governor's mansion in Des Moines in a ceremony ahead of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival held Saturday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

More than 8,000 people are expected to eat more than 10,000 pounds of bacon at the festival. Tickets for this year's event sold out in just over three minutes.

Branstad says he's pardoned turkeys before, but never a pig. Bonnie was selected at random from a State Center farm affiliated with Eden Farms. An Eden Farms spokesman says Bonnie will become a farm pet.