Peggy the piglet with her stuffed doggo pal (Picture: PA Real Life)

When 48-year-old vegan Lisa Buck, from Norfolk, spotted a transport truck full of pigs, it played on her mind.

Realising they were on the way to the abattoir, Lisa was grief-stricken.

But the universe heard her cries as one little piglet fell out of the truck, only to be found by Lisa’s friends.

Knowing Lisa is quite the animal carer and activist – Lisa’s business, The Vegan Owl, is dedicated to sourcing plant-based goodness – they phoned her up and gave her the piglet to take care of.


Naming her Peggy, Lisa and husband Bill have welcomed the piglet into their home where other lost and wounded animals have resided.

Spot the piggy (Picture: PA Real Life)

‘I’d say I’ve sheltered at least 200 birds over the years,’ said Lisa. ‘In fact, two of them, a jay and a rook, have never left.’



Other four-legged animals living in the caretaker’s home include a bulldog and terrier.

As soon as she sorted the admin side of things with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), she was able to introduce Peggy to the dogs.

‘I’d brought some blankets with me, swaddled her up and she fell asleep in my arms within seconds – I fell in love with her there and then,’ she says.

‘I tried to find out where she had come from by calling around farm contacts, but it remained a mystery, so I thought it was safe to keep her.’

Lisa is no stranger to rescuing animals (Picture: PA Real Life)

Lisa, who was vegetarian for four years before becoming vegan in 2015, spent the rest of the day ensuring the outhouse was fully kitted out for Peggy – her pig in a blanket.

But she doesn’t want to keep Peggy as a pet for too long.

‘I didn’t want to push Peggy into being a pet,’ said Lisa. ‘I wanted her to feel comfortable doing whatever her natural instincts told her to do.

‘She’s already showing a desire to be domesticated, and I’m happy for that to be the case, as long as that’s something she has chosen herself.

‘It doesn’t mix with my ethics to force a farm animal to adopt the life of a pet. I think there needs to be a choice

‘There’ll always be a home here for Peggy.

‘We just want her to live out her natural life without ever having to be in fear, like she must have been on that terrible day when she was off to the slaughterhouse.’

Peggy, estimated to be two months old, is clearly loving domestic life, happily hogging blankets and making herself at home.

Lisa said: ‘She was grunting at the door, desperate to get in, and before we knew it, she was running around the house exploring.

‘She really is like a newborn baby and brings out all my maternal instincts. She sleeps, eats, and will occasionally kick about a bit before drifting back off.’

But while Peggy is currently smaller than Lisa’s pooches, she is likely to grow to seven feet long and weigh up to 40 stone.

‘I’m well aware just how big she’s going to get, but that’s fine, we live in an old farmhouse – so we have the space,’ said Lisa.



‘Although, if she’s going to insist on watching telly with us every night, we might have to get a bigger armchair, in fact, it might be best if she got her own sofa!’

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