After Pregnant Pig Escapes Farm and Gives Birth in the Woods, Public Steps in to Save Piglets from Slaughter

On June 14, Anna Aston was out walking a dog in Ollerton, England, when she spotted something unusual in the woods: a large pig and its litter of piglets.

“I knew they weren’t wild boar; they just looked like ordinary pigs,” she told the BBC. “I was thinking, ‘This isn’t right.’ You just don’t get them in a wood.”

She contacted Brinsley Animal Rescue in hopes that something could be done for the pigs. It was clear to her and other rescuers that the mother pig had escaped from a commercial farm and had run away to have her babies — a story that touched Aston and many others who soon became very concerned with the pig’s plight.

“Wherever she has come from, she deserves a safe and happy life with her little family,” Aston continued. “I think she has earned her freedom now.”

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The problem was, the pig belonged to a farmer. Without permission, removing the pig to a rescue could be branded an act of theft, something Jon Beresford, who runs the sanctuary, was quick to point out.

A petition was started to locate the owner of the pig and make a plea for her freedom. In the meantime, volunteers went out to feed the pig (who was dubbed “Matilda”), as she had a ring in her nose that prevented her from foraging.

Those who worked with her emphasized how good a mother she was, and thousands of people signed the petition.