Love Greggs’ Vegan Sausage Rolls? You’ll Love Roger the Pig, Too!
As CEO Roger Whiteside steps down from his position at the Greggs annual meeting on 17 May, his namesake will be snuffling in the hay. PETA has named a rescued pig Roger in honour of the executive who oversaw the bakery chain’s foray into deliciously pig-free vegan sausage rolls, vegan ham and cheese baguettes, and vegan sausage breakfast rolls.
Like the CEO who shares his name, Roger the pig is a bold and handsome character. We hope he will inspire people to spare other sensitive pigs by choosing delicious, pig-friendly vegan food.
Greggs: Vegan Sausage Rolls and Beyond
More than 20,000 people signed PETA’s friendly petition calling on Greggs to offer a vegan sausage roll, and along with the brand’s Vegan Ham and CheeZe Baguette, the popular treat is a PETA Vegan Food Award winner.
Pigs Are Not Pork
Roger and his pig palls are playful, friendly, sensitive, and intelligent individuals. Much like humans, they are soothed by music, love playing ball, and enjoy getting massages!
And just like Roger, who is smiling despite all the hardships he went through on an industrial pig farm, pigs are known to remain optimistic. In his book The Whole Hog, naturalist Lyall Watson wrote, “I know of no other animals that are more consistently curious, more willing to explore new experiences, more ready to meet the world with open mouthed enthusiasm. Pigs, I have discovered, are incurable optimists and get a big kick out of just being.”
10 Million Pigs Are Slaughtered in the UK Each Year
In the UK meat industry, farmers clip or grind down many piglets’ teeth and cut off their tails without any painkillers.
After female pigs give birth, they’re confined to farrowing crates so small they can’t even turn around, let alone fulfil their strong urge to build a nest as they would naturally do. They’re forcibly impregnated over and over again, and each litter of piglets is torn away from them after only a few weeks and transported to fattening pens before being sent to slaughter.
© casperhilt
Roger’s New Home
Roger was found on the side of the road after he escaped from an industrial pig farm, and he now resides at Hillside Animal Sanctuary, where he enjoys playing in his straw, having a good wallow, and spending time with his fellow rescued pigs.
At present, Hillside Animal Sanctuary is a safe home for around 4,000 animals, including 750 sheep and goats, 650 cows, 300 pigs, and 2,500 horses, ponies, and donkeys – as well as rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks, chickens, turkeys, and other rescued animals. Learn more about its life-saving work here.
Make More Pigs Like Roger Smile – Go Vegan
In addition to sparing nearly 200 animals like Roger a year a violent and terrifying death, vegans are less likely to suffer from heart disease, diabetes, strokes, obesity, and cancer than meat-eaters are. They also have smaller carbon footprints, as the meat industry is a major producer of the greenhouse-gas emissions that contribute to the climate catastrophe.
What are you waiting for? Take our 30-day vegan pledge and we’ll help you make the transition to a kinder lifestyle:
