Meet the Notorious P.I.G. of El Porto

“He was always gonna be Piggy Smalls,” says owner Rian Basilio, a musician, visual artist, photographer and longtime El Porto resident. “The name was ready before the pig was even born.”

Rian’s path to pig parenthood is as unconventional as the pet itself. A native of Hawaii, he moved to Downtown Los Angeles after studying and pursuing music in San Diego.

“Back then, I was living in this massive, 2,000-square-foot loft in the Arts District, rehearsing with my reggae band, doing photo shoots. It felt like that scene in Big with Tom Hanks,” he recalls.

But the grind of downtown started to wear on him. One fateful day, he visited a girl he’d met during a music video shoot. “I skated The Strand by day and listened to music all night. I was like, ‘What am I doing living in Downtown L.A.?’”

Soon after, he traded the concrete jungle for the beachy charm of El Porto.

“He’s kind of like the mayor of El Porto. Everybody knows him. He brings smiles wherever he goes.”

Amanda Lee, who Rian met a few years later in 2015, had her own rooted ties to the community. A yoga teacher originally from Martha’s Vineyard, she had been working in local studios and bartending at spots like the former Café Boogaloo (now Atta Girl) in Hermosa Beach.

“She was already plugged in to the scene here,” Rian says. “I was still traveling a lot with music, so I hadn’t really gotten grounded. Meeting her changed that.”

Their connection was instant—and a little surreal. On their very first date, the subject of pets came up. “She asked what animal I’d want if I could have anything,” Rian recalls. “I joked about a tiger, but then said I’d always wanted a pot-bellied pig. Her jaw dropped. She pulled out her phone and started showing me all these pig adoption sites. She had already been actively looking for one.”

Amanda told Rian right then and there, “You are my soulmate.” She had even been apartment hunting based on whether a landlord would allow a pig.

“It was like fate,” Rian laughs. “We were both already on the pig path—we just didn’t know we were gonna walk it together.”

That winter, they welcomed a tiny, 9-pound piglet into their home. Born on October 12, 2015—the day before Rian’s birthday—Piggy Smalls flew in from Northern California and into a beach shack that would soon become his kingdom. The couple’s home, one of the original houses in El Porto, is the kind of quirky, lived-in place that fits perfectly into the neighborhood’s surfer soul.

Piggy Smalls wasted no time making himself at home. “He was litter box-trained within a month,” says Rian. “He was crate-trained, but one day we came home, and he wasn’t in the crate. We found him under the covers in our bed.”

From that day on, Piggy slept with them for the next four years—leaping up onto the bed like a dog, snuggling between them like a baby. As Piggy grew, so did his reputation.

The attention came fast and furious. “People would line up on The Strand to pet him,” Rian recalls. “I’ve seen car accidents from people gawking at him. It’s wild.”

Between Rian’s gigs and Amanda’s yoga practice, they built their lives around creativity and community. Together they also co-founded Kuleana Holistic Health, a clinic with a focus on traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Located in the heart of Hermosa Beach, Kuleana offers various revitalizing medical, wellness and beauty services.

But Piggy remains their most beloved collaboration. In the house, he is a mix of cat and toddler—the couple had to babyproof everything.

“He opens drawers with his snout, gets into bags and has started figuring out zippers,” Rian says. “He’s too smart for his own good. We’ve got locks on the fridge and cabinets. He knows exactly where we keep the vegetables.”

Now nearing 10 years old, Piggy lives a structured life. He walks daily with Rian through the neighborhood—greeting locals, sniffing out treats in grassy patches and posing for the endless stream of social media photos. “He’s kind of like the mayor of El Porto,” shares Rian. “Everybody knows him. He brings smiles wherever he goes.”

As for what’s next? “If we had land, we’d have a pig rescue,” Rian laughs. “I still want to use all those names—Snoop Hog, 2Pork, Pjörk. But for now, it’s Piggy Smalls running the show.”