“You don’t see a pig on a leash every day with a hat on,” Mina Alali said as her potbelly pig wearing a colorful propeller hat tugged at her skirt, hoping to receive a handful of oats.
The propeller hat has become a signature look for the pig — a 4-year-old Vietnamese potbelly named Merlin — who has more than 1 million followers on Instagram, a surprisingly hefty vocabulary and a Guinness World Record.
For four years, Alali has been posting photos and videos of Merlin on Instagram. The pet pig quickly went viral with videos of him learning how to speak using buttons that, when pressed, play a recording of a word or phrase. He now has over 30 buttons he presses to ask for treats, to go outside and to share his thoughts.
Alali said adopting the pig was one of the best decisions she has ever made. Merlin has not only provided companionship and allowed his mom the opportunity to be self-employed through social media — but he also brought his family together.
“He’s pretty much the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Alali said. “Next to my fiancé.”
Mina Alali poses with Merlin, a miniature potbellied pig, at home in Sacramento on Thursday, April 2, 2026. The Instagram-famous pig recently earned a Guinness World Record for having the most Instagram followers of any pig. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com A wild path to wildlife
Alali grew up in Davis in a half-Iranian household, notably without any non-standard pets.
“We had two dogs and a fish,” she said. However, it was a longtime dream of hers to adopt a pig.
Growing up, Alali’s career aspirations had nothing to do with animals; she hoped to become a singer-songwriter. She spent time in her native Iran studying classical Persian music and taking voice lessons before attending Berklee College of Music in Boston for music business management.
Alali came back to the West Coast and signed with a small Sacramento-based music label. But after producing four albums, she made the decision to walk away.
“I quickly realized that I did not want to be an artist full-time,” she said. “I just thought that the industry itself was not morally aligned with myself. So it was quite a crisis.”
Soon after in late 2019, Alali adopted her first pet as an adult: A bearded dragon named Mochi.
“I spent a lot of time with him, I became obsessed with him very quickly,” she said. “We spent all our time together, and I decided to try and train him.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic loomed and TikTok became a form of escape and connection, Alali started posting her experience training Mochi to come to her, high five and shake hands.
One of the first videos she posted of the reptile “blew up overnight,” she said, earning around 5 million views. She continued posting videos of Mochi for fun, and accrued nearly 1 million followers on her TikTok account with the playful reptile videos.
In 2022, while working a day job in influencer management, an opportunity for Alali to fulfill her lifelong dream of having a pig came true.
Merlin, a miniature potbellied pig, stands at home in Sacramento on Thursday, April 2, 2026. Merlin recently earned a Guinness World Record for having the most Instagram followers of any pig. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com
“It was an impromptu decision,” Alali said. “I remember coming across a TikTok video of someone with a pig, and I just turned to my coworker, and I was like, ‘Oh, I want a pig so bad,’ and she was like, ‘What’s stopping you?’”
Alali came across baby Merlin in her search for a pet pig and instantly knew he was the one for her.
“He was older and bigger than some of the other pigs that were being adopted quite fast,” she said. “So I was like, I’ll be there in two days to pick him up.”
Mochi has since died, but the legacy he began with Alali lives on through Merlin and his other animal siblings.
A record-breaking pig
Four months after adopting Merlin, Alali started a dedicated Instagram page for him after he became popular in videos with Mochi.
As Merlin learned how to use the pre-recorded buttons, audiences fell in love with the then-tiny pig’s big attitude. Some of his first buttons included, “I want a kiss, b—-,” and “I’m hungry, b—-,“ the latter of which Alali turned into merchandise.
The small family’s newest addition helped push Alali’s TikTok account over the 1 million follower threshold. Nearly four years later, she has more than 2.5 million TikTok followers and works on her social media accounts full-time while volunteering at the Wildlife Care Association of Sacramento, an animal rehabilitation organization.
As of February, the now-180-pound Merlin is “Officially Amazing,” according to Guinness World Records.
With more than 1.1 million Instagram followers, Merlin is officially the most followed pig on social media, certified by Guinness’s records team.
According to Alali, when she looked into securing the record, it already existed, having been set by a different Insta-famous swine with slightly fewer followers than Merlin.
“When I saw that, I was like, I hate to take your spot, but I really want this plaque,” she said. “It’s just cool to have a Guinness World Record.”
Merlin, a miniature potbellied pig, poses at home in Sacramento on Thursday, April 2, 2026. Merlin recently earned a Guinness World Record for having the most Instagram followers of any pig and uses buttons to communicate with his owner, Mina Alali, to request food or express his feelings. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com Sacramento’s smallest zoo
Alali now lives in Natomas with her fiancé, Alex Saraceno, along with Merlin; a girl group of rats named Monica, Moira and Amy; a former prison pigeon named Al Capone; a bearded dragon named Muffy; and a dog named Maverick.
“(The animals) used to be all M-names, and then when Alex came in, I was like you know what? He deserves some A-names too,” Alali said.
The couple met and fell in love in 2023 all thanks to Merlin, according to Alali.
“He saw a Reel of Merlin and I on Instagram and DM’ed me,” Alali said. “His message was, ‘I want to marry you.’ I said back, ‘Wow, what an introduction.’”
Alali and Saraceno began messaging long distance, as he lived on the East Coast. They started formally dating shortly after. Within a year, the couple was engaged. Saraceno moved to Sacramento and they are now planning their wedding for September.
“Merlin’s gonna be the ring boarer,” Alali said.
In addition to the posse of pets at home, Alali and Saraceno also adopted two cows who were rescued from an unethically managed petting zoo. The steers reside on a pasture in Davis, and one day the family hopes to have enough space to keep them at home.
Alali still works on writing and recording music on her own. A song she wrote for Saraceno shortly after they started dating will play as she walks down the aisle on their wedding day, and another song features Merlin’s beloved grunts and oinks.
Through her volunteering at the wildlife rehab center and her social media work, Alali said she found a passion for supporting rescue animals. Her ultimate goal is to one day get licensed to become an at-home rehabilitator and eventually open an animal sanctuary on a large plot of land.
“All these animals deserve love and affection, and they just want to be cared for, just like us humans,” she said. “I think I’ve been able to open up people’s minds and hearts to we should maybe treat pigs more kindly, or cows, extending that to reptiles or wildlife.”
Mina Alali feeds Merlin, a miniature potbellied pig, a carrot at home in Sacramento on Thursday, April 2, 2026. The Instagram-famous pig recently earned a Guinness World Record for having the most Instagram followers of any pig. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com
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Camila Pedrosa is a service journalism reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously worked as a summer reporting intern for The Bee and reported in Phoenix and Washington, D.C. She graduated from Arizona State University with a master’s degree in mass communication.