Rescued piglets served to U.K. firefighters as sausage

Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A farmer in England thanked firefighters who rescued her piglets from a blaze by serving the animals to their rescuers as sausages.

Pewsey firefighters rescued the 18 piglets and two sows from a blaze after 60 tons of hay caught fire at a farm in Wiltshire in February.

Six months later, farmer Rachel Rivers invited the firefighters back to feed on sausages made from the rescued pigs.

"I wanted to thank them. I promised them at the time I'd bring down some sausages for them, which they were all pleased about," Rivers told the Telegraph.

The farmer told the Guardian the firefighters were "over the moon" after sampling the sausage links.

"Huge thank you to Rachel Rivers who gave them to us to sample," the fire station said. "Highly recommended by Pewsey Fire Stations crew and if anyone is having a bank holiday weekend BBQ then check out these sausages, they are fantastic."

While Rivers was glad the firefighters enjoyed the meal, she admitted the bizarre show of gratitude would likely be unpopular with animal lovers.

"I'm sure vegetarians will hate this," she said.

Both Rivers and the firefighters received some backlash regarding the sausages, but the farmer said the act was standard practice.

"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 said. "They won't be kept inside. They are outdoors and fed with organic food which is grown on the farm."

Pewsey Fire Station decided to remove a post showing off the sausage meal from their Facebook page.

"In regard to a recent post on this page. We recognise that this has caused offense to some - we apologize for this and as such have removed the post," the station said.