This sad video shows the moment a man standing on a step ladder pokes a pig with a massive pole to urge it to get down from the roof where it had fled to avoid being slaughtered.

Smartphone footage recorded on a farm in the city of Lechang, in Guandong province, China, depicts the plucky animal standing on the roof tiles in an attempt to save its bacon on Tuesday, December 19.

Puzzled over how the heavy animal found its way up the slaughterhouse, a worker at the farm can be seen trying to poke the animal with a large pole while standing on a 13-foot step ladder.

But when he failed to succeed in his attempts, he stepped down and let a colleague of his give the technique a chance.

Unbothered by the workers, the pig just moved away from the pole's reach and laid down on the tiles again in its bid for freedom.

In an interview with Chinese media, the farm owner Mr Lan, said that the incident happened after three pigs were slaughtered at the farm.

He claimed that the fourth animal realsied it was next and found its way on a 7ft high privy before jumping on the roof. Lan added that by the end of the day, they managed to capture it and brought it down.