This was life at a factory farm in Iowa for hogs and baby pigs -- a life of beatings, eye gouging, and rape. And more. Frankly, the text stories were enough for me to deal with, but as I've said, there is video, too.
In my own life I have been focusing on my too-skimpy budget, my relationship, my friend's troubles, the presidential campaign. To much of the public this outrage is almost a non-story, since we all have our personal issues to handle, and this country's economic tribulations now hang over our heads every day and dominate the news, along with the 2008 campaign. Still, I say we are lesser beings if we don't face this and correct it.
Pain is pain, whether you were born a human or a pig. Suffering and pain are not felt exclusively by people. Pigs are more intelligent than dogs, according to scientists, although intelligence shouldn't enter into it. . . except for the lack of it in these (criminal) workers.
A smaller, family-owned farm -- as opposed to the large-scale, corporate-owned "factory farm" -- is no picnic, either, for livestock during their brief time on this earth. Pigs must endure having their tails cut off, and castration for the males, without the benefit of painkillers. Later they are trucked to the slaughterhouse -- or call it the meatpackers or the packing plant if you want to sound nicer -- and it may be a long ride of many hours, with the animals overcrowded and unable to lie down to rest. And the end is often brutal rather than quick and painless.
What if this were your cat or dog? They are comparable animals. Farm children in the 4-H organization in fact often raise a single animal from the time it is a baby, lavishing it with the best of care, grooming it, coming to love it, treating it almost as a pet. And I'm sure the animal bonds with the child as well, probably feeling love for him or her in its own way. When this very privileged animal is grown, it's taken to compete at the local fair, then sold there at auction, to be slaughtered for meat. I can't see this as being good for the animal or the child.
These abusive factory farm, or hog plant, workers are depraved, angry individuals. I wouldn't trust them around children, either. In my opinion such an extremely spartan, congested environment cultivates callousness toward animals. In these operations money trumps all. Is it any wonder that some of us refuse to eat meat?
- PETA's story can be found here: Undercover Investigation Reveals Hormel Supplier's Abuse of Mother Pigs and Piglets
- MSNBC featured the story by AP: Undercover video shows workers abusing pigs
Also see:
- Humane Society's Factory Farming Campaign
- Rolling Stone magazine's Boss Hog revealing "Pork's Dirty Secret: The nation's top hog producer is also one of America's worst polluters" (Dec. 2006)
- PETA's Meet Your Meat
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