Pigs might fly: Globetrotter Wilbur's US-Lincolnshire trip grounded

Eight-year-old Wilbur remains in North Carolina, while Mrs Castillo has now moved with her family to Lincolnshire

A globetrotting pet pig's 4,000-mile move from the USA to the UK has been delayed after his owners faced spiralling costs and bureaucracy.

Alison and Ruben Castillo had hoped Wilbur would move with them from North Carolina to Lincolnshire on 8 November.

But they said just a day before their flight they were informed Wilbur must first isolate in the USA for 30 days.

Remaining with the pig, army veteran Mr Castillo said the move had become one of his "more difficult deployments".

The news that Wilbur must isolate before travelling to join the family, their dog and their three cats in Heckington came after Mr and Mrs Castillo had already spent nearly $14,500 (around £11,600) to move their pets to the UK.

Mrs Castillo, now in the family's new home in the village near Sleaford, said they only found out on 7 November that the eight-year-old Julianna pig would not be able to fly with the other animals the following day.

While a pig was classed in the United States as a pet, in the UK it was considered as livestock and therefore faced different rules, she said.

Wilbur must isolate in the USA for another month before he can be reunited with the Castillo family in Heckington

Mrs Castillo said this meant husband Ruben was forced to cancel his flight and stay in the family's almost empty home in North Carolina to look after Wilbur until he was allowed to travel.

"There are agreements between England and America about how animals are imported and exported," she said.

"We've had trouble navigating them because a pig isn't a normal pet. That is not a system that people are used to dealing with.

"Everything takes so long to get sorted."

Speaking to the BBC from the USA, Mr Castillo, a retired US marine, said: "I've been on several deployments, including combat deployments, and I have to say this is probably one of the more difficult ones.

"When you deploy in the military you have a team behind you, but this has been a little more hectic."

Ruben Castillo has had to stay in the United States with Wilbur until the pig is finally cleared to fly

Mrs Castillo, who was brought up in the Yorkshire countryside, said while she appreciated the importance of not bringing animals into the country without the correct paperwork, she wished it had been easier to work out.

"At every turn, red tape, expense and government agencies on both sides of the Atlantic weighed in," she said.

Those agencies included the United States Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Department of Agriculture, according to Mrs Castillo.

"All held a piece of the puzzle and required fees," she said.

Costs included $13,000 (£10,455) in flights and transport fees, $665 (£535) for a custom-built flight crate for Wilbur, and $800 (£643) in ground transport fees, she added.

The family also set up a fundraiser to help pay for their animals' move, which has so far raised more than $4,700 (£3,781) of its $15,000 (£12,066) target.

Mrs Castillo added that more paperwork still needed to be completed, but she hoped the family would be reunited in time for Christmas.

"We hope all these issues can be resolved and my husband and that darn pig can get on a flight and we can all be together," she said.