River Cottage

I think I would have popped her in the car and taken her straight home for a decent feed personally. I hate seeing animals suffer needlessly and by the sounds of it, that sow had been neglected for some time.

There is no excuse for letting animals suffer like that. Whoever entered her into that show obviously has very little humanity. It would be better to salughter her than to let her get into that state.

She'd got to the state of needing to be slaughtered and put out of her misery. It was too late for TLC. 

very sad. i'm surprised the owner was not pulled up on it in the market. do they not have trading standards there?

yes they do have TS but very often they dont bother coming out of the office the RSPCA used to attend but i have not seen them there for a while.

janeyour not alone i have seen some real sorry states go through melton it always gets to me.

I can't bear to see something like this.  I know people have to use markets but luckily I only have a few animals and won't.  Would rather take them to slaughter myself and then I know they have had a good life and as good an end as is possible.

Could you have found out who the seller was and reported him to TS?  or the RSPCA.  All in hindsight I know but, like you, it would upset me too.

The whole story is that - I was watching her, missed a step, fell and was immediately helped up by several very kind people nearby. However, my ankle was painful and I had gone to market to look for hatching eggs and not pigs but the pigs were on the way.Suffice it to say that I managed to hobble to the other end of the pigs, watch a sow and piglets that I was interested in being sold but not able to bid because of my ankle, and drive an automatic home. Whereupon my husband raised his eyebrows at my ankle, took me to minor injuries and it is now in plaster - broken!! So at no time were market officials on my agenda unfortunately.

But the sow still haunts me.

where did you trip jane in the pig shed or on the path down the side of the shed ?

hope it heals soon and your not in too much pain.

I'm afraid I would have stopped the market dead in it's tracks and barracked the auctioneers for allowing an animal in there in that condition. I have done it before and would do so again.

The owner should have been reported to the trading standards and RSPCA (even though they are bloody useless) at least your complaint would have been recorded.

What else was that pig carrying besides the scars of an owner that could look after his stock properly.

Get in touch with the auctioneers and make a fuss. Tell them you are going to report it to trading standards. It's better than sitting there going on about how bad you feel and doing nothing about it.

Rant over.

If you see animal cruelty report it or it will never stop.

I support everything you say there Castle Farm.

I'd like to think that the 1/4 million members or so of RC forum could raise an enquiring voice as to Melton Market's conduct and further practices?