A friend of mine had about 20 acres, a large agri barn, some hens, sheep and a couple of pigs, 5 miles from her cottage in a small village - council eventually admitted she was almost there with about 7 points out of the ten needed.
She went along to feed them all one morning to find one of her pigs dying, had to call the vet and have it put down - a vagrant had sliced a bit off it to eat!!!! (he was still there, out of his mind, and the police took him away, and left her sobbing; she never heard anything more from them)
Even THEN her council wouldn't let her have even a caravan on the land so she could protect her animals! She sold the land and gave up.