A HAMPSHIRE school has been accused of “ducking the issue” after getting rid of four pigs that were on death row.

Priestlands School in Lymington was preparing to send the six-month-old creatures to slaughter when a vegan parent, Hampshire businessman Vincent Cook, called for them to be reprieved.

His cause has been taken up by animal rights group Surge Activism, which has raised a huge petition signed by nearly 40,000 people calling for the pigs to be saved.

Last night the school confirmed that it had handed the animals back to their original owner – understood to be a pig farmer – “to prevent a time-consuming row”.

But Mr Cook, who has two daughters at Priestlands, accused the school of abdicating its responsibility for the creatures’ fate.

He said the pigs were almost certain to be slaughtered by the farmer unless he could track him down and persuade him that they should be sent to a sanctuary.

Priestlands has been keeping pigs for several years as part of a project to make the school more sustainable by rearing animals in its walled garden.

Mr Cook, 45, decided to make a stand after becoming a vegan and shunning all food that comes from an animal.

A school spokesman said: “When a parent first raised his concerns, the school immediately agreed that it would consult the wider school community.

“Our preferred outcome was for this year’s pigs to enter the food chain as planned and for us then to have a rational discussion about whether we have pigs in the future.

“He made it clear that no outcome other than the pigs not going to slaughter would be acceptable.

“We were not willing to spend the next four weeks fighting a battle which would be time-consuming and peripheral to our central mission of delivering the best possible provision to our students.

“Therefore we decided that the best way forward was to hand back the pigs to their original owner.

“This enables us to focus on our core purpose of running the school and will allow a proper consultation and discussion on whether we have pigs in the future.”

Mr Cook told the Daily Echo: “I find it deplorable that the school actively rears and slaughters pigs. We’ve found a sanctuary for the pigs but the school is trying to duck the issue by giving them back to the farmer who originally gifted them to Priestlands.”

“These pigs have been lovingly cared for by pupils and have been used to help calm agitated pupils.”

A Priestlands spokesman said: “We have always been open and honest about the purpose of the pigs and have had them in our walled garden for many years.”