PORTLAND, Oregon — A Portland man is getting a fresh start after living for months in his car with his dog and a 250-pound potbellied pig.

Navy veteran Tony James found himself in that predicament last summer after a series of tragedies and setbacks. In August, his girlfriend of 13 years died of a heart attack. Just a month earlier, the couple and their pets had moved into their car after losing their home.

“My appendix burst and I had complications from surgery,” James said. “Basically, I wasn’t able to pay my rent and I lost my house.”

James couldn’t fit his painful story onto the small cardboard sign he used to ask passersby for help, so he simply wrote: “Veteran trying to get back home!!! Anything helps!!!”

James was holding the sign Wednesday afternoon on Northeast 12th Avenue nea

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