Bye bye Butch: Tamworth Two become the Tamworth One as pig dies 12 years after running off to avoid the bacon-slicer

By DAVID WILKES

Solitary swine: Sundance getting used to life on his own yesterday after his sister had to be put down


Their dramatic escape from the butcher’s knife captured the imagination of the nation.
The Tamworth Two, Butch and Sundance, fled an abattoir and spent a week on the run before the Daily Mail rounded them up, bought them off their owner and removed the threat of the bacon-slicer.

But, in the end, even the most cunning pig cannot escape the ravages of time. And now, 12 years on, it is our sad duty to inform you that the Tamworth Two are now the Tamworth One.

Butch has gone to the great sty in the sky after a battle with illness, leaving her brother Sundance feeling a little down in the snout. She was 13, a grand old age for a pig, but her health had deteriorated in recent weeks and she was put down yesterday on vets’ advice.

The two Tamworth pigs, a distinctive breed with a ginger coat, were placed at a farm in Kent after being rescued by the Mail. It was there, at the Rare Breeds Centre in Woodchurch, near Ashford, that staff first noticed Butch was not her usual self when she went off her food.

Over the last three weeks, her condition worsened rapidly. Vets were called, but despite extensive tests and a cocktail of drugs, her ailing health could not be reversed.

Farm manager Davy McColm said: ‘Butch was always the livelier of the two, the more physically active. We knew it was serious because in the end she would just stand there and let us examine her without causing a fuss.

‘She was chronically ill and was not responding to treatment. The vets could not say for certain what was wrong with her, but the prime suspect is liver cancer. Sadly, it reached the point where it was in the animal’s best interests to put her to sleep. Considering she was destined for the chop at six months, she had a good innings.’


Dynamic duo: The young pigs, Sundance, left, and Butch, after arriving in Kent


After a last night cuddle up together in the straw with Sundance, Butch was led away early yesterday to be humanely put out of her misery by a licensed slaughterman, followed by cremation. Staff at the centre are discussing putting a plaque or other memorial at the pen as a permanent tribute.

Mr McColm said: ‘The Tamworth Two led the life of Riley here and were very popular with our visitors. So many people remembered their escape and wanted to see them. Now only Sundance remains, but their story lives on.’

It was in January, 1998 that the porky pair fled from a Wiltshire abattoir, forcing a fence and swimming across the River Avon. They spent a week on the run, searching back gardens and vegetable patches for food, before being rounded up.

Their escapades earned them celebrity status, and they became the subject of a series of books and a film.

Barbara Davies, the Daily Mail journalist who rescued Butch, said: ‘I’m devastated to hear of her death but it’s comforting to know that she lived a long and full life.

‘She and Sundance might so easily have ended up in the abattoir, but they shared a spirit of survival which struck a chord, particularly with the British, but also with animal lovers all over the world. She was a unique animal and her freedom was much deserved.’



As for Sundance, who has gone from ginger to grey with age, he spent yesterday wallowing in his bath, grunting, scratching his haunches against a wooden post and snoozing in the sun as he came to terms with having the spacious sty to himself.

Mr McColm said: ‘I don’t think Sundance has quite put two and two together yet. It will probably hit him at bedtime.

‘Butch and he lived every day of their lives together.

‘It will take him some time to get used to it.

‘Pigs are herd animals but they’re very anti-social when it comes to strangers, so we probably won’t try to introduce another pig to Sundance. He just needs a quiet life now. As long as he has his mud hole, his bed and his food, he’s happy.’

A spokesman for Eastpoint vets of Ashford, who treated Butch, said: ‘We would like to commend the dedicated staff at the Rare Breeds Centre who have cared for Butch. All who encountered her have no doubt become attached to this enterprising and spirited character.'


source :dailymail