For two days, a black pot-bellied pig had eluded police and animal control officers in the area of Old Dalton Road.

But a persistent Floyd County police officer and a bag of salt and vinegar chips led to the pig’s capture shortly after 9 p.m. Friday.

“I’d got a call to look for him yesterday morning,” said Matt Cordle with Floyd County Animal Control.

People were afraid the pig was going to be hit by a car, said Floyd County Police officer Chad Matthews, who was called to Old Dalton Road on Friday evening.

“When I got here, some people were pulled over watching him,” Matthews said.

Matthews was able to lure the pig out of the dense vegetation several times but the pig would run back to safety when cars would drive by the area, he said.

When Cordle arrived, the pig was hiding but after a short search it was found in a drainage pipe.

Matthews had been feeding the pig corn but that didn’t satisfy its tastes and the pig refused to come out of the ditch.

However the pig was partial to some salt and vinegar potato chips that Rome News-Tribune photographer Ken Caruthers had in his car.

The lure of the salty snack drew the pig out of the pipe but it squealed in protest as it was captured by Cordle.

“It is a pet,” Cordle said. “If it had been wild it would have bit me.”

Cordle said in his 10 years as an animal control officer, he has had a few calls about pigs roaming the area.

But it was a first for Matthews who has been a police officer for five years.

The pig will be housed at the Animal Control office for the next three days. But if the owners do not come to get the pig, it already has a good home.

Before leaving to answer a call about a tree down on the road, Matthews gave Cordle his phone number.

“I am interested in keeping it as a pet,” Matthews said.