Firefighters who saved 18 baby pigs and two grown sows from a barn fire in Wiltshire have been able to “sample the fruits of their labour” after the farmer slaughtered the piglets and sent them sausages as a thank you.
The crew were called to a farm at Milton Lilbourne in February after 60 tonnes of hay caught fire trapping a litter of piglets in its wake.
They managed to save the animals to much appraise from the farmer, who sent them sausages made from the litter six months later which they barbecued and ate this week.
Posting pictures on social media, they said they were glad to finally “sample the fruits of [their] labour”.
Asked if Rachel Rivers, the farmer, thought this a strange way of saying thanks, she told the BBC that farming is her livelihood and way of life.
“I gave those animals the best quality of life I could ever give until the time they go to slaughter and they go into the food chain,” she said. “You do feel sad at the end of it.”
In a message posted on Facebook the firefighters said: “Exactly six months and one day since FF’s Olsen and Richardson rescued 18 piglets from a farm in Milton we got to sample the fruits of our labour from that February night. Huge thank you to Rachel Rivers for dropping them off for us to sample.
“Highly recommended by Pewsey fire station’s crew. If any one of our followers is having a bank holiday bbq this weekend then check out these sausages, they are fantastic.”
A spokesman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service told the BBC: “Our thanks to the farmer for her generosity. We can tell no porkies, the sausages were fantastic.”
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