Farmer dismay as Tamworth sows butchered in field

Dorset pig farmer James Hull has spoken of his “horror” as two of his valued Tamworth sows were illegally slaughtered and butchered in a field just yards away from his house in the run-up to Christmas.

Mr Hull, who keeps 30 Tamworth sows on 20ha near Sherborne, Dorset, and finishes the progeny outside, says the attackers knew what they were doing.

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“They did not shoot them, they just slit their throats, skinned them, cut their heads off and took the meat,” Mr Hull said. 

“We’re talking about animals that weighed over 150kg each – so even without the skin and heads you’re talking about a quarter of a tonne of meat they carried away.”

The fact this all happened in the paddock right outside his house was particularly shocking, said Mr Hull.

Previous attack

It is also the second time he has endured such an attack, as another one of his animals was slaughtered in very similar circumstances in November 2022.

“Since last year, I have not put any fat pigs in that particular field, thinking that fat pigs is what they must be after, but it seems they wanted the sows,” he said.

“Then there is the issue of where this meat is going. People on our social media (The Story Pig) were saying people have approached them to try and sell meat in our local town – that may or may not be connected.”

Mr Hull said he had some suspicions, but no proof about who might have been involved.

His wife had seen two cars parked near the gateway a few weeks ago, and then two men had come out of the woods “looking dodgy” and sped away. 

“We get a lot of Eastern Europeans phoning up at this time of year wanting to buy whole pigs, and if we say we don’t do it that way, they tell us ‘we can kill it if you just get it for us’. So I know they’re up for that sort of thing.”

Mr Hull said he had contacted the police, but had not received a visit.