They have often faced the chop – and now the owners of six pigs which have survived against the odds are facing another battle to save their bacon.
Jaclyn Haggata and her husband Russell first took on three of the pigs to stop them being shot when they lived in Cornwall.
The farmer who owned them said they weren’t profitable but Russell and Jaclyn, who had taken to feeding two of the pigs, asked if they could have them – and the farmer threw in a third.
The pigs were kept in a field and a male pig and 12 piglets were suddenly added by people who no longer wanted them.
The Haggatas found new homes for the piglets but kept two, along with the male, giving them a family of six pigs which they took with them when they moved up to Skelmanthorpe several years ago.
Take a look at the pigs in their enclosure below.
The couple bought some woodland near Kitchen Royd in Denby Dale about a mile from their home, and have created a timber ‘stable’ for the pigs, and have built timber gates and a makeshift road through the wood so they can reach them.
But there have been complaints that the pigs have destroyed some bluebells in the wood and now Kirklees Council has issued the couple with an enforcement notice, saying the stable, gates and road have breached planning controls and must be removed.
Jaclyn, 51, a social worker, said they are appealing the council decision to try to safeguard the future of the pigs.
“When we first came here we rented a field, but it wasn’t good as it was very exposed,” she said. “It got far too hot for the pigs in the summer and extremely cold in winter.
“So when the nine and a half acres of wood came up for auction it seemed ideal and my husband bought it. It was very gloomy, dark and overgrown and we fenced some of it off and built a wooden stable.
“We made a bit of a roadway to get to it as it’s very steep. We also put up some wooden gates as the pigs are a mile away and we are not there to protect them all the time. There are lots of bluebells in the wood and the pigs may have unearthed some of them. But they don’t eat them, and are too lazy and well fed to go rooting around digging them up.”
The couple have been told they have until October 23 to sort out of the issues and reinstate the land to its previous condition.
A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: “The erection of a substantial building within the woodland was reported to the council in 2014. Because the building did not have planning permission the owner submitted two retrospective applications in an attempt to seek the necessary permission. As no special circumstances were demonstrated to allow the new building within the Green Belt, both applications were refused.
“In such circumstances the council considered it necessary to issue the enforcement notice requiring the removal of the unauthorised building which was erected in the Green Belt without planning permission.”
