Silloth pigs: Escaped porkers roaming town given new home

This breed of pig likes to root up grass and vegetation

Three not-so-little pigs have been saved from an uncertain future after being on the loose in a seaside town.

The fugitive swine had been foraging around Silloth in Cumbria, occasionally "confronting" unwary residents.

They had escaped from an enclosure on farmland and their owner has now agreed to give them to Pennines Wildlife Rescue in Carrshield, Northumberland.

Anthony Johnson, who runs the centre, said he "didn't want to see the animals go to slaughter".

Their escape and subsequent sightings around the town became something of a cause célèbre.

Residents said they were both worried for their wellbeing and unnerved by the prospect of coming across them in the dark.

"A pig, when it comes running towards you, is pretty scary," Mr Johnson said.

"It weren't right that they were wandering round the village."

Adam Pearson said people "just wanted the best for them"

The pigs' owner, Sam Hagan, had been keeping them on a field near Solway Holiday Park, which he recently sold.

Mr Johnson said Cumbria County Council had brokered an agreement with Mr Hagan to give the peripatetic porkers a new home.

Mr Hagan has been approached for comment.

It is understood he does not want payment, but Mr Johnson said taking them in would "cost me enough money as it is".

They would need new shelters, food, hay and straw, and would have to be kept in quarantine away from his other animals until they could be checked by a vet, he said.

He is also taking in two mules and two alpacas that had been living on Mr Hagan's land.

"It's going to be a big undertaking," Mr Johnson said.

He was hoping for donations and said it was "going to be a struggle" until they came through.

The pigs were spotted along the seafront and in the town's grassy areas

Silloth resident Adam Pearson said it was "a relief" to hear the pigs were going to be safe.

"No animal should be unnecessarily slaughtered," he said.

Diane Clorley, who also lives in the town, thought it "might not have been such a happy ending" had they not escaped.

"The fact that most of the town were concerned shows that there's still some compassion left in the world," she said.