Animal lover stops escaped piglet being run over

An animal lover has described how she prevented an escaped piglet from being run over after spotting it walking in the road.

Carly Knott was being given a lift from the airport when she spotted the pig near the Nottinghamshire village of Bothamsall.

She managed to catch the piglet just before two cars and a motorbike sped past, then took the piglet home to her surprised husband.

Felicity the piglet is now being cared for at Brinsley Animal Rescue, where she will live with a pig who fell off the back of a slaughter lorry.

"I have no idea why she [Felicity] got there or why she was there, I'm just glad she's safe," said Ms Knott.

"It was so lucky. I'm almost certain she would have been hit by something at some point."

Carly Knott knew how to catch a pig as she has 22 rescue pigs at home

It was the early hours of the morning on 11 July when Ms Knott and her friend spotted the piglet.

"We just spotted her walking along, totally casual, and it was a bit of a shock," she said.

"It was one of those things where you look twice because you don't expect to see a piglet at that time of the day, walking around on her own."

Fortunately, she already knew how to catch a pig, as she has 22 rescue pigs at home.

"We quickly put the hazards on and stopped the car, and as soon as we got hold of her and I had her in my arms, a motorbike and two cars sped past," she said.

"The amount of people that are like, 'how lucky is it that you of all people stopped and saw her at that time of the morning?' I'm so pleased that we did find her."

Felicity is thought to be about five weeks old

Ms Knott named the piglet Felicity because it means lucky or fortunate, from the Latin word felicitas.

She said: "She's definitely lucky isn't she?"

She and her husband are both vegan and have a smallholding where they look after rescued farm animals.

However, they felt Felicity would need more space, as she will grow to be "huge" due to her breed.

They therefore asked Brinsley Animal Rescue if they had space to look after Felicity, who is currently about five weeks old.

Felicity will grow to be "huge" as she is a commercial white pig, which are bred for meat production

Jon Beresford, co-founder of Brinsley Animal Rescue, said Felicity was enjoying her new life at the rescue centre.

"At the moment she's in a stable because she's too tiny, but we let her out under supervision and she just runs around, and she's so brave she will go up to all the animals, she'll go up to the ponies, she'll go up to the cows," he said.

"Being young she spends a lot of time sleeping, so we let her out and she'll run around, have a mad half hour and go barmy, and then fall asleep, and that's it for another few hours, and then she's back out again."

Due to her age, Felicity is currently being hand-reared.

Felicity spends a lot of time in a stable at the moment because she is young

When she is older she will live with a pig called Jemima, who was born was on the back of a lorry while her pregnant mother was being taken for slaughter.

Jemima then fell off the lorry and was found on a dual carriageway.

"So when Felicity is big enough she'll be living with another escapee pig that was found running down the road," said Mr Beresford.

Both Felicity and Jemima are commercial pigs bred for meat, so escaping has saved their lives.

"Pigs are absolutely incredible creatures, they say pigs are - after dolphins and chimpanzees - the most intelligent animal," said Mr Beresford.

"Felicity has been saved from the factory-farmed industry, so will grow up and she will live a full life."