A PAIR of pigs have been spared the slaughterhouse after a group of Thanet animal lovers stepped in to save their lives.

Dotty Bossy Pig and Doris Runty Pig were up for the chop before Debbie Channing of Thanet Animal Group (TAG) decided to raise the cash to buy them.

Vegetarian Debbie fell in love with the pigs, who were living on a free range farm next to the Wingham home of her partner Dave Burbridge.

She said: "We would feed them every time they would come up to the window and we became attached. I couldn't face seeing them slaughtered, so we went about seeing how we could buy them alive."

Debbie raised funds with the help of members of the Thanet Against Live Exports campaign who raided their piggy banks.

After getting enough cash, Debbie and Dave went the whole hog purchased the pair, taking them to The Retreat Farm Animal Sanctuary in Sevenoaks.

She said: "It was lovely to see them given a new home, somewhere they can live out their lives. It may not make much of a difference but it makes a difference to them."