Steamboat Springs — In a city where residents can raise a small number of goats and chickens at their homes, Rory Clow is trying to make some room for the pigs.

Clow urged the Steamboat Springs City Council Tuesday night to change the city’s pet zoning ordinance to allow residents here to have up to two or three mini-pigs that weigh between 60 and 200 pounds in their homes.

“Pigs are incredibly smart, and they’re wonderful companions,” Clow said before listing the other benefits of having small pigs as pets.

They’re hypoallergenic, love to cuddle and have the mental capacity of a 3- to 5-year-old child, she said.

“They are a great alternative to dogs and cats,” she added.

Clow isn’t trying to make bacon.

She said pig as pets also make great emotional support animals.

She said she believed the city’s current ban on having any sort of swine in homes made sense for a 1,000-pound meat hog that could disturb a neighborhood.

But she advocated for an exception for mini-pigs, which make household pets.

Clow noted some communities in Colorado already have made the exceptions for the animals.

In Colorado Springs for example, residents can have two potbelly pigs per household.

Clow proposed that all pigs in the city should be fixed. And perhaps they should have a microchip requirement in case they bolt from their homes.

“I’d like to see Steamboat be a progressive community,” Clow said.

She submitted a petition with more than 270 signatures to the city clerk that advocated for the change to allow pigs.

Council members did not react to the proposal Tuesday because it was raised during the public comment portion of the meeting and wasn’t on the agenda.

Clow noted her proposal was likely more lighthearted than some of the other issues the council faces.

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210, email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottFranz10