VEGAN WHO SAVED THIS PORKER’S BACON
yOu can take something out of the frying pan...
But be careful where it ends up. Vegan activist Alicia Day bought a pig being raised on a farm after seeing it advertised online.
Saved from an inevitable trip to the abbatoir, the animal – named Jixy Pixy – was treated to walks in the park, baths, and even fed at Japanese restaurant chain Wagamama.
But Miss Day was also keeping it at her tiny two-bedroom flat – and when her landlord found out he kicked the pair out. Animal rights campaigners have also criticised the vegan for housing the piglet at the property in Southall, west London.
After her landlord ordered her to leave the flat on Monday – just a week after she got the pig – Miss Day gave it to the RSPCA after one final trip to Wagamama. Jixy Pixy is now being taken to a sanctuary in Kent.
Miss Day paid £30 for the pig before spending £400 on a taxi to bring it to London from a farm in Exeter, Devon.
The 31-year-old took her new pet on trains, allowed him to walk off the lead on busy city streets and even took him to the park like a dog. ‘I can’t save them all but I thought I would save one,’ she said. ‘Anything for my baby.’
She added: ‘He is even easier to walk than a dog. We would be at the shopping centre in the open air and I would sit there, relax and have a cup of tea.’
Miss Day, who is from New york, stopped eating meat aged 12 before becoming a vegan this year. She hopes to teach people that pigs are not ‘dirty, disgusting animals’ and hopes her efforts inspire Britons to eat less meat. But animal experts said her actions showed a shocking lack of judgment. Ian Woodhurst, farming campaigns manager at World Animal Protection, said: ‘Pigs have complex needs and should not be kept in the home.
‘Pigs require a specific diet, need to be kept apart from other animals and be able to express natural behaviours such as rooting and foraging in earth.
‘They need a large space, minimum area of 36 square metres, and access to an outdoor wallow and shelter from the sun.
‘In addition, pigs require a licence if being moved from the home to the vet for example and are illegal to transport in cars.’
‘Easier to walk than a dog’