A CWMBRAN animal sanctuary is hoping to raise £7,000 for their surprise six-week-old piglets.

All Creatures Great and Small, in Llanfrechfa, has just announced the arrival of its new piglets, who were born on October 19. The piglets, who have been called The Trotters, were quite a surprise for the sanctuary, who don’t actually breed animals.

Assistant animal manager, Annette Hall, said staff weren’t aware that Pepper, one of the sanctuary’s female pigs, was pregnant until a few days before she gave birth.

Ms Hall said: “We don’t actually breed pigs here but we take in neglected animals. We had several pigs in, and one of our pigs, Dell Boy, broke out of his pen and into Pepper’s pen to mate with her.

“We didn’t realise she was pregnant until a day or two before she gave birth. I remember looking at her the day before and wondering if she was.

“When we came in the morning after - there they were! It was a bit of a shock for us.”

She added: “Usually we don’t have breeding here because we can’t help other animals but it’s happened and they are beautiful.”

At the moment the piglets are with their mum in one of the sanctuary’s five enclosures but it will not be suitable for them to stay in when they begin the grow.

The sanctuary are hoping to raise £7,000 to help build a new enclosure for the piglets on the other side of the field, as none of the other enclosures are big enough to house them all, along with their father Dell Boy and his brother Rodney.

All Creatures Great and Small are looking to raise the money as soon as they can, because without the new enclosure, they may not be able to keep the piglets.

Fundraising officer for the sanctuary Rachel Day, said: “If we don’t raise the £7,000 we would have to give them away and we wouldn’t be sure if they would get the same sort of care wherever they went like they would be getting here. We would like to keep them here.

“We don’t have an exact date to raise it by but we need to raise it as soon as possible.”

The sanctuary is asking people to donate any amount they can, which can be done by visiting All Creatures Great and Small or by emailing enquiries@allcreaturesgreatandsmall.org.uk