Pigs in a Blanket
April 7, 2014
This week, while getting gas at the gas station, I saw something that very likely has forever changed me. What I saw was not that unusual, but what I noticed about it was disturbing. I saw a tractor trailer with pigs in cages on the back, crammed into the tiny metal cages, and stacked on top of each other. The following picture comes pretty close to what I saw. The only difference is that the truck that I saw had cages about as long as each pig, and twice as tall as each pig. The cages were barely big enough for one pig to stand in, but on this truck they had wedged two pigs into each crate so that the pigs were laying on their sides, one on top of the other. Each pig was facing the opposite direction, and not able even to stand, but forced to lay on their sides. This blatant abuse (on a trailer where every passerby could see) was sickening to look at, and made me wonder if this is how we treat all animals meant for consumption. I made a mental note to avoid eating bacon and ham, or at least make sure it is organic when I do.
The very next day while eating a sandwich in a restaurant, I realized that there was both ham and bacon on it, and became sick to my stomach. Now, I could ignore what my conscience has been alerted to, try really hard to not think about it, and continue to eat whatever food comes my way and looks appetizing, but inaction is what fuels the horrible treatment of animals in these cases.
I decided to do a little research on the treatment of pigs which, honestly, has been very difficult for me because any article or picture google brings up is pretty traumatizing. For that reason, I will refrain from including actual videos or pictures of pigs being mistreated and will instead stick to writing about this subject. Please stop reading now if hearing about animal abuse is too upsetting for you, and maybe just switch to organic or free range meat if you want to be part of the solution.
In an undercover video shot by an advocacy group called Mercy for Animals, workers at a pig farm were shown kicking and shoving pigs, pulling and yanking their ears, and even worse- slamming younger pigs into concrete to kill them. Apparently, this form of “blunt force euthanasia” has been an acceptable form of euthanizing sucklings in the industry (Pork Checkoff, 2008). Debate over this method of killing these animals aside, these particular pigs were not always killed by the initial slam, and, according to an article about the video shot by Mercy for Animals by Anna Schecter of NBC News, workers left the pigs there to die slowly, sometimes taking up to thirty minutes for them to die on their own (2014).
In the swine industry, this form of euthanasia is considered acceptable as long as it is followed with a “secondary step,” which is an additional measure used to quickly ensure death if the first measure does not work immediately (Pork Checkoff, pg. 14, 2008). There is debate, however, over whether blunt force should continue to be an acceptable form of euthanasia of swine, and other methods have been suggested (Daniels, n.d.). It also seems that the blunt force should come from an object, and not from being slammed into the ground, at least that is my understanding from reading the pamphlet, “The Proper Euthanasia of Swine” (Daniels, n.d.).
In the article by Anna Schecter, Lonnie Herring, the owner of the farm, claimed that his farm euthanized animals in a humane fashion, and followed the methods used by the industry “to a T” (Schecter, 2014). He admitted that the employees in the video engaged in a “callous” treatment of the animals, and he fired them (2014). However, I am concerned at his claim that a farm that so openly partook in this behavior supposedly follows all of the industry’s standards. I am also concerned with “industry standards” if blunt force by slamming animals into the ground is the method by which those standards are carried out. The problem with this issue is that we are often left to take the word of the ones who stand to gain the most from cutting corners about the treatment of the animals, since videos are usually only obtained in under cover situations.
In another undercover video shot at a Hormel, workers were caught engaging in similar abuse of pigs. These workers appeared to take particular delight in hurting these animals, and made multiple references such as “hurt ‘em!” and “There’s nobody who works for PETA out here” (Hormel Supplier, 2008).
While we can’t control what goes on inside pig farms or how workers treat animals when we are not around, we CAN control where we put our dollars. And we can also email, mail, or call companies like Tyson when something like this is brought to light, and let them know that we expect and demand the humane treatment of animals bred for consumption.
When we have so many issues surrounding the abuse and mistreatment of humans, advocating for animals can seem like a waste of time. However, I believe that how a person treats animals often reflects how he/she will treat his/her fellow man, and that people who are allowed to continually mistreat animals in this fashion will eventually mistreat humans. Let’s all take a small step in the direction of demanding the fair treatment of animals bred for consumption, and look into the policies of the companies we support with our dollars.
References
Daniels, S. (n.d.). Proper euthanasia techniques. Retrieved from http://www.pork.org/ filelibrary/ conferencesandseminars/Euthanasia – Scanlon Daniels.pdf
Hormel Supplier Caught Abusing (2008). PETA. Retrieved from https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1131
Pork Checkoff (2008). On-farm euthanasia of swine : Recommendations for the producer. Retrieved from https://www.aasv.org/aasv/documents/SwineEuthanasia.pdf
Schector, A. (2014). Tyson foods changes pig care policies after NBC shows undercover video. Retrieved from http://investigations.nbcnews.com/news/2014/01/10/22245308-tyson-foods-changes-pig-care-policies-after-nbc-shows-undercover-video?lite