A woman who 'rescued' a pig has been kicked out of her flat and come in for flak from animal rights campaigners after she decided to keep it in her London flat.
Alicia Day, 31, paid £30 ($38) to stop little Jixy Pixy from being slaughtered after seeing an advert online and then spent a whopping £400 ($512) getting a taxi from her flat in London to the Exeter farm the pig was living on.
Alicia, who stopped eating meat when she was just 12 and has been vegan for a year, said: "I can't save them all, but I thought I would save one. Anything for my baby."
Former carer Alicia kept Jixy Pixy and quickly became well-known around Ealing Broadway in London for taking the pig out and about on a lead.
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She said: "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.
"It was pretty crazy because there was constantly a crowd around the pig and kids loved it.
"People were asking me questions and taking pictures and phoning friends to say there is a pig in Ealing.
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"That's when I got the idea that maybe this will highlight that pigs are not just food.
"Some people told me point blank they are becoming a vegetarian after meeting my pig."
Unfortunately for Alicia, her landlord didn't see it quite like that. When he got wind of the fact she had a pig living with her, Alicia and the animal were asked to leave on 4 November - a week after she purchased the pig.
It was then Alicia realised she wouldn't be able to keep the pig and handed him over the RSPCA - just a week after she 'rescued' the piggie.
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Alicia said before she gave the pig to RSCPA officers, she took him out for one last meal - at Wagamama's, apparently, where he had a tofu pad Thai.
Describing the moment she handed Jixy over she said: "We walked to the back of the van and he just started screaming and trying to run away - he didn't want to go."
Alicia, who is originally from New York, now lives in a hotel, which is paid for by her sister and says she doesn't regret her actions.
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"The sadness I am going through or the sadness the pig is going through at losing me is better than him being slaughtered," she said.
"I am not going to buy more pigs because it will cause more problems with the RSPCA, which was not my intention."
Her move has been slammed by animal experts, though. Ian Woodhurst, farming campaigns manager at World Animal Protection, explained: "Pigs have complex needs and should not be kept in the home.
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"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 meters, and access to an outdoor wallow and shelter from the sun.
"In addition pigs require a license, if being moved from the home to the vet for example, and are illegal to transport in cars."
Jixy Pixy is now living in an animal sanctuary in Kent.
Featured Image Credit: Triangle News
Topics: uk news, Weird, Animals