Woman Shames City Into Saving 'Hopeless' Trapped Pig

After her pet pig got loose and disappeared this week, Atlanta resident Latoria Middleton was relieved to find Rick Ross alive but trapped in an open city manhole on Thursday, having apparently fallen in.

Unfortunately, the ordeal was just beginning for Middleton and the pig named after the famously hefty rapper.

Unable to lift the 200-pound porker by herself, Middleton says she called multiple city agencies for help, but all of them, including the fire department, told her they could not and would not free Rick Ross.

"They were basically telling me it was hopeless, that he was gonna die down there," Middleton told WGCL-TV. "I refused to let him go that way."

Running out of options, Middleton tried a different approach on Friday: She climbed in the hole herself and contacted the local news. After reporters arrived, firefighters finally came and removed Rick Ross from the hole in "maybe 10 minutes," according to a department spokesperson.

"If it wasn't for me calling the news and getting you guys out here, they would have never came," Middleton told reporters. "They were telling me 'no' for so long, that they wouldn't be able to do it."

After Rick Ross was freed, however, Middleton reportedly showed little ill will.

"I'm just so happy," said Middleton. "It's family. I've raised him. I've bottle fed him since he was a week old."