Due to inhumane, overcrowded and hostile living conditions the stronger pigs attack the weaker ones chewing off the ears, tails and eating out the butts of the smaller pigs. Pigs with infected ruptures and oozing sores are attacked by other pigs too, eventually, the weaker pigs are eaten alive. All that is left the next morning is the “rug” or what factory farm employees call the skin and bones. Some barns may possibly lose up to 40% of all the pigs in it due to every problem imaginable.
Factory farms are too often located in impoverished parts of the U.S. where environmental laws can be skirted and the labor force can be exploited and low-paid. Too many of these low paid workers may be uncaring when it comes to the treatment and welfare of farm animals. Photos and hidden camera videos are available through www.hfa.org showing how sick and injured pigs are routinely left to die a slow, horrifying, agonizing death or they may be “thumped”, meaning they are grabbed by the leg and their head is slammed on the floor but the pigs oftentimes do not die so they are thrown, still alive, on the “dead piles” where they eventually die of their injuries, neglect, thirst or starvation.
A hidden camera investigation exposed how your pork chops and bacon is being farmed and processed for human consumption. The pigs that are too sick or cannot walk to
slaughter may be shot, basically used for target practice. This is not a one-shot kind of thing and it is over. It may not be uncommon to just open fire on the pig’s face to try and kill it. Too often the pig is left breathing and full of bullet holes then it is thrown on the dead pile to die a slow and horrible death.
Another way to get rid of the nuisance sickly pigs is to put a chain around their neck, put the chain on the front-loader forklift and lift which hangs them. It may take about 5 minutes of struggling and squealing for them to die. The pig farm employee then drags the dead and dying animals to the dead hole. One farm employee laughed and said if the pigs would not struggle so much when they are hung it would not be so bad on the pigs.
Before many sick and crippled pigs make it to the dead hole they may be discarded to the “junk” pen where pigs are pushed or thrown off a 4 foot ledge and left to die of starvation, infection or injuries. Before they reach the 4 foot ledge they may be dragged up to 100 feet from their pens. After being dragged 50 feet or more squealing and struggling some pigs just give up, stop making noises and stop resisting. Remember, pigs are very intelligent.
Critics say, at this point in the pig farming process, they may instinctively come to know their fate, similar to how people were herded and hauled away during the holocaust of World War II. Pigs that make it to the “junk” pen are left to be cannibalized by other pigs or abandoned to die unless they are found to be salvageable later and can somehow be shipped off to slaughter.
Baby piglets too sick for slaughter may be routinely slammed against the concrete floor and beaten to death with hammers then thrown into a bucket and left to bleed to death if not already dead. The pigs that are to be castrated no scalpel may be used. Instead, farm workers may use a dull razor blade. The blade may be so dull it becomes like the worker is tearing the testicles off.
To get the sows to go into heat so they can be impregnated the rule of the inhumane pig factory farm is to treat them rough by kicking them, kneeing them, and punching the sows even shocking them. This makes them go into heat quicker.
Forget about veterinary care and use of medications. This is too expensive. One farm worker said let the maggots eat the infection. The pig farm managers may only care about selling the pig not treating the pig. Treating wounds on sick pigs is just too costly. Either let them suffer or get them to slaughter before they are too sick to get to slaughter.
No pig may be too sick to slaughter if it can walk. Consequently, too often pigs that do make it to slaughter have been living covered in manure and urine, they may be infected, have sores, abscesses and gaping injuries, eyes swollen shut, untreated broken bones exposed through their skin as well as uterine and rectal prolapses. If you saw what these prolapses actually look like you may rethink eating pork ever again, the so-called white meat.
The idea to call pork “white meat” was nothing more than a marketing come-on or ploy to try and get meat eaters to think of pork as a healthier meat, like turkey or chicken is when compared to the red meat of beef.
These cruel, inhumane commercial pig farms even have some legislators “in their pocket” so to speak by getting some in the U.S. Congress to favor legislation making it a felony to use cameras to document cruel and inhumane treatment of factory farm animals raised for human consumption without the permission of pig farm owners. Some legislators may actually be part of the problem because they have vested financial interests in the pig farming. One U. S. Congressman favoring lenient pig farming legislation reportedly even owns a factory pig farm. Despite political legislation that supposedly stops cruel and inhumane treatment exposed by whistleblowers or farm employees, animal cruelty continues at factory farms.
When Congress wants to impose new, somewhat humane standards for the treatment of “downed” farm animals, of course, factory farm lobbyists want to “water down” the legislation essentially re-defining what a “downed” animal is so conceivably no “downed” animal may possibly be considered a “downer” and could still be slaughtered for human consumption. Even cattle diagnosed with “mad cow” disease may be diagnosed as “downers” due to physical injuries and not sickness. There is no realistic way for meat inspectors to ALWAYS know if an animal is “down” due to sickness or physical injury.
SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: HUMANE FARMING ASSOCIATION (HFA) MARCH 2004 & PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS (PETA) SUMMER 2004