About pigs

I've known for a long time that pigs are considered the fourth most intelligent creature on the planet. I've known that the conditions under which they are typically raised are unspeakably cruel and inhumane. And I've known that they are often alive and conscious when dropped into scalding water at the slaughterhouse. What I didn't know is what the pork industry does to make them overeat:

Pigs appear to have a good sense of direction and have found their way home over great distances. Adults can run at speeds of up to 11 miles an hour. Pigs have shown gentleness and forgiveness. Norwegian author Bergljot Borresen writes about a mountain farmer who mistreated his pig. The pig locked her jaws into his thigh but didn’t bite down. The farmer believed it was a warning not to treat her unkindly again. In her own way, she gave him another chance.

Author John Robbins notes that “unlike dogs, horses and humans, they will never dangerously overeat even when given access to unlimited food.” The pork industry, however, has wreaked havoc on this healthful habit with a drug called Hog-Crave, which causes pigs to overeat so that they will grow faster and will thus be more profitable to those who kill them.

Pigs have been known to save the lives of others, including their human friends. According to The Daily Telegraph, “a pet piglet called Pru was praised by her owner … after dragging her free from a muddy bog.” The owner said, “I was panicking when I was stuck in the bog. I did not know what to do and I think Pru sensed that. … I had a rope with me that I use as a dog lead and I put it around her. I was shouting ‘Go home, go home’ and she walked forward, slowly pulling me out of the mud.”

Like dogs, pigs have done many heroic deeds. Babe’s real-life counterparts have rescued human and nonhuman companions, stopped intruders in their tracks, and even saved themselves from slaughterhouses. In addition to the previously mentioned piglet Pru, who dragged her human companion from a muddy bog, there is also Priscilla, who saved a young boy from drowning; Spammy, who led firefighters to a burning shed to save her calf friend Spot; and Lulu, who found help for her human companion who had collapsed from a heart attack. A pig named Tunia chased away an intruder, and another named Mona held a fleeing suspect’s leg until the police arrived. A pig in New Jersey jumped off a truck en route to the slaughterhouse, while in England, a stone carving of a pig named Butch was placed upon a historic cathedral after Butch and his friend Sundance escaped from a slaughterhouse and roamed the country for several days before being captured. Fortunately, a national outcry against slaughter allowed Butch and Sundance to go to a sanctuary.

Please folks. Even if you're bound and determined to continue eating meat, consider giving up pork.