Escaped piglet given new home by vegan campaigner

File photo / George Novak

When vegan campaigner Lisa Buck was told that a piglet had been found wandering by the roadside, she took it as a sign she had to save its bacon.

For, the previous day, she had been upset to see a farm truck loaded with pigs.

Now not only has Buck adopted the piglet, which she has named Peggy, the foundling even snuggles up on the sofa as she and husband Bill watch TV.

Peggy was rescued from the side of the road in Norfolk by a family friend 12 days ago.

Buck's son Ellis, 24, rang to tell her the news and she immediately offered to care for the piglet.

Buck, 48, who lives near Diss, is no stranger to caring for lost animals, having spent much of her life tending wounded birds.

As soon as she obtained the permit needed to keep a pig, she dashed round to pick up Peggy.

'I'd brought some blankets with me, swaddled her up and she fell asleep in my arms within seconds – I fell in love with her there and then,' she said.

'The day before Ellis called me, I was driving along the A12 near my home and spotted a transport truck full of pigs. Realising they may be on their way to the abattoir, I was grief-stricken all day.

'Then, when Ellis called me the next morning, I knew it was fate. It sounds crazy, but I honestly believe the universe wanted me to take in this poor, abandoned piglet.'

Buck and her family made efforts to find out where the lorry she saw was from, in case it had been carrying the piglet, but it had no markings.

She spent a day preparing her house to accommodate Peggy and introducing the piglet to her two dogs, bulldog Ernie and terrier Eddie.

'I didn't want to push Peggy into being a pet,' she said. 'I wanted her to feel comfortable doing whatever her natural instincts told her to do.'

But it took just one night outdoors for Peggy to prove she is a house hog.

'She was grunting at the door, desperate to get in, and before we knew it, she was running around the house exploring,' Buck said.

'She really is like a newborn baby and brings out all my maternal instincts. She sleeps, eats, and will occasionally kick about a bit before drifting back off.'

Peggy, who is fed organic oats and goats' milk, will eventually grow to about 7ft long and weigh up to 40st but there is no chance she will end up on the dinner table – Buck became a vegan in 2015 after four years as a vegetarian and runs online food resource The Vegan Owl.

'I'm well aware just how big she's going to get, but that's fine, we live in an old farmhouse – so we have the space,' she said.

'There'll always be a home here for Peggy. We just want her to live out her natural life. The only kind of sausages anyone will be eating here will be vegan versions.'

She and Mr Buck, 53, a caretaker, are happy to have Peggy nestling between them on the sofa – while she's small.

'Although, if she's going to insist on watching telly with us every night, we might have to get a bigger armchair,' Buck said.

'In fact, it might be best if she got her own sofa!'