Hi everyone. I met with festival organisers last month, again hoping the race would be called off, but alas this is not to be. Unless I can come up with an alternative event that will draw in the crowds, the pig race will continue annually. I do have an idea now, that I'm going to build on, and research and present to the festival committee for the 2017 and beyond Festival and I do hope to convince them, that this idea far outweighs a race of 5 pigs up the main street! In the meantime, I asked the organisers for a show of compassion, to at least grant these 5 pigs a life free from the threat of slaughter, in other wards, instead of after the race heading back to the farm, where they will continue to be bred for the slaughter house, they would be free to live out their lives in a sanctuary or home. The committee were more than willing to agree to this, they were happy to. Now, this may sound great, but finding a home for 5 pigs isn't exactly an easy job, and it's up to me to find a home..or 5 separate homes! I've emailed every sanctuary I can think of in Ireland, I've put a call out on Twitter, and as of yet I have had no luck. Well, that's not entirely true, I do have an offer of one foster home for one pig, but that's all it is, a foster home, a temporary home. There are many challenges and lot's of agricultural paperwork needed also to home a pig, so I am out of my depth here. This isn't a situation I can be involved with every year. Whereas my heart wants to rescue every pig from the slaughterhouse, and if I could I would, sadly Ireland does not have a great amount of Farm Animal Sanctuaries, and shipping the 5 pigs to the Uk would be far out of my ability to pay for or indeed raise money for. So for now, every day, I try to find a home for 5 pigs. I'm stressed, I'm not gonna lie...but I won't give up. This race will be cancelled one day. I'll stay in touch and thank you so much for your support so far!