WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — A fundraiser for Tug Valley High School football, in which the life of a pig hangs in the balance, has drawn the ire of one of the nation’s largest animal-rights groups.

The fundraiser allows people to buy chances on a pig. The winner then earns the chance to decide whether the pig is killed for food or is allowed to live.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called the fundraiser “traumatic” and urged the school not to allow the pig to be killed. In the event the winner of the contest does decide to kill the animal, PETA has an unusual request.

“We hope you’ll give your students a lesson in compassion and not allow the pig to be harmed, but if the winner of the raffle decides that the animal should be slaughtered, we urge you to allow the entire student body to witness firsthand the fear and torment that pigs endure when they’re killed for food,” PETA Senior Director Marta Holmberg wrote in a letter to the school’s principal. “It’s easy to forget where meat comes from when you see it in neatly wrapped packages at the supermarket, but the animals don’t go peacefully.”

Tickets are sold at Tug Valley home football games, and the drawing will be held Oct. 28, during the game with Man High School.