Updated

A 26-year-old Curry County man had his arm nearly severed by a 900-pound boar that attacked him when he reached into the animal's pen to grab a water hose.

Curry County sheriff's deputies say Juan Cruz, a dairy worker, was attacked March 16 when he was feeding the boar and about 18 other pigs at his home in rural eastern New Mexico.

Cruz, speaking through an interpreter, says doctors in Lubbock, Texas, reattached his arm, but he is waiting to see if the operation was successful.

Cruz says the pig wasn't mean and the attack was unexpected.

A sheriff's report shows the family asked that the animal be shot and killed.

After a test for rabies came up negative, the family was given the meat at its request.