Soham woman Emily Keates has launched an appeal for donations to help fund a sanctuary for rescued pigs.

Ely Standard: Emily Keates with her rescued pigsEmily Keates with her rescued pigs (Image: Archant)

Emily, 25, hit the headlines back in February when she introduced the world to Fella - a pot-belly/saddleback cross who she and her partner Dustin Graziotti, 28, had saved from a farm in Essex.

Now, Emily has stepped in to rescue another 12 pigs from the slaughterhouse and is searching for donations to help buy the animals from a farmer.

Currently, Emily, a committed vegan, is renting land and buying food for the rescued porkers but hopes to raise enough to pay for an enclosure and land of her own, where she can keep the pigs before moving them on to new homes.

Emily, who works from home renting motorhomes, said: “On a walk about two weeks ago we came across a mini farm, we thought they were pet pigs, naively. I got speaking to the farmer and he tells me they are meat pigs, he is ceasing the trade and sending them off for slaughter.

“So I have offered to buy them all from him for a fee and we are rescuing them all.

“I’ve got to rent the farmers’ land, buy their food and have this thing built in the garden as well so it is quite a big expense to me initially.

“I’d like to be able to do this as an ongoing thing but I need some land and I need money to get a sanctuary. There are people who have done things like this all over the world and it is quite achievable.”

To promote her cause, Emily is holding an open day at the Cherry Tree pub, in Soham, on Saturday, May 2, from noon-4pm.

Fella the pig will be there along with some of the rescued piglets. There will be a photographer, bake sale, face painting and a raffle.

If you would like to donate to the cause, you can visit www.theamazingfella.com