Matilda and her nine piglets have been saved from the slaughterhouse and are now a step closer to their forever home thanks to the work of animal rescuers, a grassroots pressure campaign and the huge outpouring of public support.

Matilda and her family were discovered last week in woodlands near Ollerton, Nottinghamshire after the sow escaped her farm to give birth. Hopes of an initial rescue turned to sadness as the farm, Warren Farm in Haughton, reclaimed the family, prompting the launch of a 5,000-signature petition. National press attention followed, as did plans for a protest organised by the pressure group ‘Free the Ollerton 11’, named when it was originally believed there were 10 piglets."

However, in an amazing turn of events, all the pigs have now been taken to safety by local animal charity Brinsley Animal Rescue, where they will stay for three weeks until they can legally be moved to their forever homes according to the terms of their release.

“We cannot tell you how emotional we all feel but we have just picked up Matilda and all her babies,” Brinsley wrote on social media. “Thank you so, so much everybody for helping us to do this today and all the reporters that have taken this story around the world. We also thank the farm for allowing us to rescue this courageous girl and her beautiful babies. We will update you and I think Matilda herself wants to say a big, big thank you too.”

The Surge Sanctuary will provide a home to Matilda and four of her piglets, and together with Brinsley will be looking for a suitable home for the other five piglets. Due to the requirements of housing so many pigs, each of whom will grow to be very large, the Surge Sanctuary is asking for help to build more fencing and shelters following their arrival next month.

“They now can't be legally moved for 21 days so we hope to welcome them all here in early July, and in the meantime, they will be well looked after and will be getting plenty of belly rubs from the team at Brinsley,” the sanctuary wrote on Instagram. “This will give us some time to sort out their home - and we have an amazing summer spot in mind for them, with a stream, trees and plenty of foraging.”

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The sanctuary has undergone a massive transformation in the few months since its opening and has already given a home to more than 100 rescued animals. With a further ten larger than life residents on the way, Surge Sanctuary is appealing for donations to help with the cost of expanding the pig facilities.

“It’s been a huge period of expansion for us recently, and a monthly or one-off donation from just £3 helps us out so much,” said the sanctuary. “We will need a lot of very secure fencing, concrete bases down for the winter, and field shelters for them, so any donations are massively appreciated.”

The news that Matilda and her family had been taken back to Warren Farm led local grassroots campaigners to launch a concerted pressure campaign against the farm, its owners Wold Farms Breeding Ltd and Cranswick PLC, and also its high-profile customer M&S.

“Matilda is from a farm that supplies M&S and we are still pleading with the farm to let her go to a sanctuary with all of her babies,” campaigners said at the time.

“Mother pigs have natural instincts and Matilda took herself off into the woods to give birth and keep herself and her babies safe. Local dog walkers and our volunteers have been feeding and watering her for days.

“She deserves more than being bundled up and sent back to the farm. She wants peace and she is ‘More than just Marks and Spencer, she is a mother just trying to keep her babies safe and we want to help her to do that.”

Jon Beresford, from Brinsley Animal Rescue, told the BBC prior to their eventual rescue that he had been speaking to the farm in an effort to secure the release of Matilda and her family.

Warren Farm also features in a video on the M&S YouTube channel as an example of a farm that meets its so-called ‘M&S Select Farms’ standard. Even though 40 per cent of mother pigs in the UK are reared in outdoor systems and farrow in huts rather than cages, according to Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), what the video does not tell us is that even on “high welfare” free-range farms the piglets still have their tails and teeth removed before being brought inside to be fattened.

Fortunately, Matilda and her babies will never have to endure this and the grim fate that awaits countless other pigs in the UK, as revealed in recent investigations from Surge, Animal Equality and Viva among others. Please support the work of all animal justice organisations, sanctuaries and rescue charities working to end the exploitation of pigs and all animals.

• Donate to Surge Sanctuary to help build a home for Matilda and her piglets.

• Follow the amazing work of Brinsley Animal Rescue and consider volunteering.

Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.

Your support makes a huge difference to us. Supporting Surge with a monthly or one-off donation enables us to continue our work to end all animal oppression.

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