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A litter of piglets who were saved from a barn fire has been served up as dinner to the firefighters who rescued them.
In February, a litter of 18 piglets and two sows survived a barn fire in Wiltshire in which 60 tonnes of hay caught fire.
The animals were given a six-month stay of execution after they were rescued from the farm at Milton Lilbourne. However, in a disturbing twist farmer Rachel Rivers decided that the best way to thank the Pewsey fire team who saved them, was by turning the rescued piglets into sausages and feeding them to the team.
“Vegetarians will hate this”
Speaking about her decision, Rivers said: “I’m sure vegetarians will hate this.”
“I wanted to thank them. I promised them at the time I’d bring down some sausages for them, which they were all pleased about,” Rivers said.
When asked if she though this was a “strange or unusual” way of saying thanks, she said that farming is her livelihood and way of life.
“I gave those animals the best quality of life I could ever give until the time they go to slaughter and they go into the food chain.
“You do feel sad at the end of it… but to bring them down for their [the firefighters] Monday night practice was a good way of saying ‘thank you’.”
A spokesman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Our thanks to the farmer for her generosity. We can tell no porkies, the sausages were fantastic.” Truly a case of cognitive dissonance at it’s finest.
PETA speaks out
PETA have spoken out about the news to say that in fact the piglets were ‘no better off’ despite being saved from the blaze.
PETA’s Director of International Programmes Mimi Bekhechi said: “We’ll be sending Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service packs of vegan sausages so that they can see how easy it is to truly be heroes for pigs – by sparing them all suffering.”
