A vegan family who rescued a piglet from slaughter now risk losing their council house if they don’t give him up.
Georgie Williams, 47, found Arlo the pig living in ‘awful’ conditions in a shed and paid the breeders to have him freed before he was be sold as meat.
But now the mother could lose her home in Crowborough, East Sussex, if she keeps the pig over a breach of the tenancy.
A vegan family who rescued a piglet from being taken to slaughter now risk having their council house taken away if they don’t give him up
Arlo has transformed into a happy-go-lucky animal and loves playing football and cuddling up to the family in bed every night
After the neighbour complained, Clarion housing association on behalf of Wealden District Council said they have just a few weeks to get rid of the piglet.
The family now fear the Arlo could be shipped off to a slaughterhouse if taken from their home.
Ms Williams says the 15-week-old piglet was ‘petrified’ when it first came to live with her and would cower in the corner staring at the wall, Metro reports.
She told the publication: ‘If you came near he would run away and scream or flinch like you were going to beat him. We had to coax him into letting us stroke him.’
But now the Arlo has transformed into a happy-go-lucky animal and loves playing football and cuddling up to the family in bed every night.
Georgie Williams (pictured), 47, found Arlo the pig living in ‘awful’ conditions in a shed and paid the breeders to free him before he would be sold as meat
Ms William, an animal activist, says the little pig is ‘not emotionally stable’ after being kept in ‘awful conditions’ in a shed
The pig lives alongside the family’s two dogs and even tries to copy their barking with snorts.
Ms William, an animal activist, says the little pig is ‘not emotionally stable’ after being kept in ‘awful conditions’ in a shed.
When she went to rescue Arlo, she said the smell was ‘overwhelming’ and the animals looked like they ‘hadn’t been cleaned out since the day they were born’.
She told Metro: ‘They were all absolutely petrified. The woman picked one up by one of its back legs and threw it into a pen for me to look at. The others were kicked out the way.’
After adopting Arlo, she managed to get an agricultural licence so she could care for him in her three-bedroom home.
The pig lives alongside the family’s two dogs and even tries to copy their barking with snorts
Since the visit, daughter Teddi , 16, has set up an online petition to get Arlo to stay with them in their home which has already gained more than 1,000 signatures
Ms Williams, who originally planned to send Arlo to a pig sanctuary, has now ‘fallen in love’ with the naughty animal.
And the activist, who has PTSD and claims disability benefits, says her mental health has improved after Arlo became her ‘therapy pet’.
She said: ‘I never thought a pig could be like this. He is more intelligent, loving and emotionally attached than a dog.’
After adopting Arlo, she managed to get an agricultural licence so she could care for him in her three-bedroom home.
But someone in the area complained about the pig, causing the family to be surprised with an unannounced visit from their housing association.
They were told they had just a couple of weeks to get rid of Arlo and if Ms Williams refuses, she risks losing the house she has lived in for six years.
Since the visit, daughter Teddi, 16, has set up an online petition to get Arlo to stay with them in their home which has already gained more than 1,000 signatures.
A Clarion spokesperson told the Metro that the ‘keeping of a pig in the property is a breach of the tenancy’.
They were told they had just a couple of weeks to get rid of Arlo and if Ms Williams refuses, she risks losing the house she has lived in for six years