The fight to save school sheep Marcus was feared to be lost last night.
He is being kept at a "safe" farm but is due to be taken to an abattoir later today.
There was no sign of a lastminute reprieve by headmistress Andrea Charman, who came up with the idea of her pupils rearing animals on the school farm.
The six-month-old sheep, which some children have become attached to is set for the dinner table, after pupils on the school council voted to send it for slaughter.
Upset parents have told how the head has been drumming up support for the school raffle, where top prize is the meat from Marcus himself.
The school wants to use the proceeds to raise pigs to turn into sausages. But plans have been temporarily put on hold until a meeting of governors, parents and teachers is held to discuss the storm over Marcus. One parent claimed Ms Charman was advertising the raffle outside a pub at the weekend.
The mum said: "It would be great if Marcus got a last-minute reprieve. The kids love that sheep and it should be able to grow old at the school."
Several Facebook groups in support of freeing Marcus have more than 250 members as outraged parents have united across the country.
Marcus was moved out of the farm at Lydd Primary School, Romney Marsh, Kent, on Thursday after teachers heard rumours of a kidnap plot by parents on Facebook.
Ms Charman has defended the decision to allow Marcus to be killed, saying it was part of educating children about the food cycle.
Parent Adele Grant, 40, said: "They've done something that I totally disagree with. It's awful."
An RSPCA spokeswoman said yesterday: "It's disappointing."
WHATEVER BECAME OF THE TAMWORTH TWO?
The Tamworth Two, Butch and Sundance, escaped the chop 11 years ago - yet they still fear they'll end up as Sunday roast.
The brother and sister vanished for nine days after bolting from an abattoir lorry in Malmesbury, Wilts, in 1998.
Since their recapture the duo - featured in a £2million animated film - have lived in a bungalow, complete with a garden, watery wallow and ensuite bedroom. At 12, they are well past middle-age and will probably only live three more years.
Sundance - the "grumpy old man" - is six times heavier than he was in 1998 after a diet of cereal, vegetables and fruit. But despite their high life, owner Davey McColm, 51, admits the pair have often tried to flee The Rare Breeds Centre, Woodchurch, Kent.
He said: "Deep down they yearn to be free and fear going for the chop but, when their time comes, they'll be cremated and placed at a pet crematorium up the road." Phoenix, the calf that survived a foot-andmouth funeral pyre, died last year, aged seven.
The heifer was found alive beside her dead mother at Clarence Farm, Axminster, Devon, in 2001. She was spared death by No10 after a Daily Mirror campaign.
Owner Michaela Board, 42, said: "I still get cards from people about her now."