Thousands of people have signed a petition against a primary school project that involves pupils rearing pigs for eventual slaughter.
Sky News reported the project at Farsley Farfield Primary school in Pudsey, West Yorkshire was launched last year to help teach its pupils where their food comes from.
But a petition started by a former student says such a project could be “traumatising” for children and was “unfair” for religious families that specifically do not eat pork.
The petition maintains that children would be taught that it was acceptable to “exploit and kill animals”, and would be justified because “people enjoy eating their bodies”.
More than 2,000 people have since signed the petition, which was launched in October.
However, headteacher Peter Harris told Sky News that he had received “overwhelming support” for the project, and that he believed none of the signatures on the petition were from people inside his school community.
“The pigs will get a much longer life, in better conditions, than commercial pigs,” he said.
