Just about six months later, she followed through, offering up a collection of sausages made from the meat of the very pigs the firefighters had saved. The grateful public servants of the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated with a barbecue.

“Exactly six months and one day since firefighters rescued 18 piglets from a fire, we got to sample the fruits of our labors from that February night,” the crew wrote in a Facebook post. “Huge thank you to Rachel Rivers for dropping them off for us to sample.”

Vegetarian and animal rights activists weren't nearly so charmed.

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said they'd be sending the firefighters a pack of Linda McCartney vegan sausages. “These poor piglets were no better off for escaping the fire,” Director of International Programs Mimi Bekhechi told the BBC. “We’ll be sending Dorset and Wiltshire fire and rescue service packs of Linda McCartney vegan sausages so they can see how easy it is to truly be heroes for pigs — by sparing them all suffering.”

Things got so heated that the fire station later removed its post and apologized.

The farmers, for their part, say they did nothing wrong.

“This was just a token gesture to the fire service,” Rivers told the BBC. “This is just what we do — we are not an animal sanctuary. We give the pigs the best opportunity and the best life they could have for six months.” She noted that her farm lets its animals roam free outside and feeds them only organic food.