Primary school "subjected to abuse" over pig rearing plan A Facebook page and on-line petition - attracting 4,600 signatures - has also been launched. Kath Cook, the head, said the school had been "bombarded by nasty, vile calls and e-mail messages from all over the world, even America and Australia." "Some of them are very threatening - things like I should be taken to a slaughterhouse," she said. We are getting images of animals being killed or kept in cages - it is horrible. We are just trying to shield the children from it all but they have even threatened to demonstrate outside the school. It has become so bad that we have called in the police because this is sheer harassment. Protests have been led by a group calling itself the Colchester Animal Defenders, which encouraged people to call the school to raise concerns. A spokeswoman said: "Children should not be exposed to this sort of thing - these pigs will be slaughtered and eaten and no animal should be used as food. There is no such thing as healthy meat - the children should not be taught that meat is necessary or that pigs are lesser beings than humans. Not only are they teaching bad health, but it is desensitising children in the process. They should not be taught the lesson that we need animals for food because that is a lie. Suffolk Police said it had spoken with the group and was offering reassurance to the school. The Telegraph told last month how almost 100 schools were now opting to grow their own crops and rear cows, sheep, pigs and chickens. In many cases, schools even send their own animals to slaughter and put meat and homemade sausages on canteen menus or on sale in school shops. The Peasenhall Primary School project is run in conjunction with a local community group Cook With Me Kids. Emma Haines, director, said: "It's very sad that people are failing to see what we are doing. We have organised trips to working farms from the school and the children know what happens to the animals - they know that the pigs will become bacon, sausages and ham