Six-hour mission to catch three abandoned little pigs

1 day ago

John Devine,in Marchand

Helen Burchell

News image — The three little pigs led rescuers on a merry dance through the Fenland fields

Shelley Munns Three pigs are trotting through a stubbly, muddy field. Two look like they are light in colour with black spots and one is ginger. There is a farm building in the background. — The three little pigs led rescuers on a merry dance through the Fenland fields

A complex six-hour rescue mission took place to catch three little pigs apparently abandoned in the freezing Fens.

The animals were spotted on Wednesday in a field near March, in Cambridgeshire, after reportedly being let out of a van at the side of a road.

Local vet staff and a council dog warden came to the rescue but the attempt took many hours - not to mention a lot of food - before all three were rounded up.

Seemingly in good health, they have now been rehomed with a Defra-registered veterinary nurse.

Triovet A ginger coloured pig is looking at the camera. He has little eyes and a big snout and is stood in a stubbly field — The pigs were thought to have been dumped on the side of a road

A member of the public called Triovet, which has a practice in the area, to report seeing the pigs being let out of a van.

Staff called on Shelley Ridgeon, a stray dog collection officer contracted by Fenland District Council, to help round up the animals.

Ridgeon said she "rather naively" thought she and her daughter could catch them quite easily using slip leads.

"I can catch a stray dog, but a pig is a different story," she said.

Triovet Three people are at the side of a muddy track with a pig, wrapped in a blanket. There are fields and a farm building in the background. — It took rescuers six hours and five loaves of bread to secure the three pigs

In the end, a team of vet staff helped using a combination of stealth, ingenuity and a great deal of food to capture all three.

"We used five loaves of bread, chicken drumsticks, pasta, apples, crackers - anything we could get our hands on for them to eat," Ridgeon said.

And at one point, animal care assistant Chloe Abbott even donned a green blanket and lay down in the field hoping she would "blend in with the grass" and the pigs would approach her. It did not work.

"I think I scared them," she admitted.

Shelley Munns Three pigs are lying side-by-side on hay or straw in a shed or shelter — The pigs were tucked up safe and warm after their foray into the freezing Fens

For a number of hours the rescuers were "jumping across dykes and through fields and slipping and sliding everywhere - it was a bit of a nightmare and bitterly cold", Ridgeon said.

The porkers were not exactly pootling about, but once safely rounded up, Triovet owner Adrian Dodoiu, whose team often helps out Ridgeon, examined the small-breed pigs, which they believed may be kunekunes, and declared them in good health.

They have now been found a warm rescue home nearby.

Cambridgeshire Police confirmed it received a report of "three abandoned pigs in Lambs Hill Drove, March" on Wednesday and said the council dog warden was dealing with the incident.