After a great escape that captivated Britain, a pair of fugitive pigs were back in custody Friday - but their derring-do won them a lifetime reprieve from the slaughterhouse.
Faced with offers of sanctuary from across the country, the oinkers' owner agreed to spare the escapees and sell them to someone who can give them a good home.The two 5-month-old Tamworth pigs broke away from slaughterhouse workers last week in Malmesbury, 90 miles west of London, squeezing under a fence and swimming across a river to freedom.
Newspapers enthusiastically took up the saga of the runaways - nicknamed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Pig - especially the Daily Mail and Express tabloids.
Authorities said the second pig's flight for freedom ended Friday with a shot from a tranquilizer dart.
"It's one of the great escapees - a very elusive pig," said Police Constable Andy Walden, one of a posse of private citizens and officials who managed to trace the pig's tracks and corner it.
The pig - it was Sundance - was under a vet's care as it recovered from the anesthetic.
Daily Mail reporter Barbara Davies said she and her team captured the first pig Thursday morning, although the news was released only in Friday's paper.
The Daily Mail claimed a "world oinkslusive" interview with its captive.