Children horrified by pig slaughter. VIDEO

Shocked children today told of the moment they found the bloody remains of a young piglet after the litter was butchered in a sickening killing spree.

The youngsters - some as young as 11 - said they discovered the one-day-old piglet cut in half as they searched for the 13 tiny animals after they were snatched from Heeley City Farm.

The remains of two other piglets were found by other staff members with limbs and body parts missing. The remaining 10 have not yet been found.

One boy, aged 14, said: "We looked for two days solid and I just couldn't believe what we saw. I found a pig without a head. There was blood all down the path - it was horrible.

"Everyone at the farm was in tears, they were so upset. It was very scary."

The litter was snatched just hours after being born to sow Nellie in a sty at the city farm.

Police today described the individual or gang responsible as "sick" and said the attack showed "depravity to the extreme".

Inspector Tim Ireland said he and fellow officers were "struggling to understand" why somebody would want to kill the defenceless baby animals.

He said: "The offence is absolutely despicable - both the slaughtering of the piglets and theft of the others.

"It is unbelievable to think somebody would want to go out and do this, to deliberately slaughter piglets for fun and to steal the others to deprive youngsters of the opportunity to engage with them on visits to the farm.

"Some have been stolen, others have been slaughtered, one was even decapitated - this is depravity to the extreme.

"This is as low as you can get - it is wanton cruelty. Why would you do something as depraved as this? You just can't understand the mental process involved in coming up with this and carrying it out."

Police Community Support Officers are carrying out extra patrols in the area to try to prevent any more problems at the farm.

Insp Ireland added: "We are keeping an open mind as to who is responsible, but are treating this as cruelty to animals and criminal damage.

"In recent weeks there have been a number of instances of criminal damage at the farm."

Farm spokeswoman Jill Brookes said everyone involved was "completely shattered" by the cruelty.

She said: "There is someone out there who can slaughter something that is no bigger than a pint pot."

Anyone with information about the attack, which happened last Thursday night or Friday morning, should call Woodseats Safer Neighbourhood Team on 0114 296 3680.

Log on to thestar.co.uk/video for new video interview including exclusive footage of the piglets hours before they were slaughtered.