Pigs are widely recognised as among the most intelligent animals on the planet. They’re also quietly recognised as heavily exploited animals who are put through things we couldn’t bear to imagine. Here are 6 unbelievable things pigs go through:
1. Their Teeth and Tails Are Cut Without Anaesthetic
Piglets in commercial farming routinely have their teeth clipped and their tails cut off, often within days of birth, and typically without any pain relief. Castration for other animals is typically done with pain relief present, given it’s understood to be a painful and stressful procedure. This is done for various reasons, such as to prevent boar taint – a process where, when pigs reach sexual maturity, it creates a less pleasant taste in their flesh. As well as this, stressful situations contribute to increased expressions of irritation and aggression in pigs, so this decreases the likelihood of hostility.
The teeth are also clipped for this reason, which points to something incredibly disturbing. We understand that they suffer the consequences of stress, but instead of not subjecting them to stressful situations, we find ways to still benefit from them.
Tails are removed to prevent tail-biting, a behaviour that arises in response to the stress of confinement. The solution to a problem caused by the conditions is not to change the conditions; it is to acknowledge that animals are emotional, sensitive beings and to stop using them altogether for our own purposes.
2. They Are Used In Animal Testing
Pigs are used extensively in biomedical research and product testing. They are used to test surgical procedures, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer products. They are deliberately put in harm’s way for human benefit. The procedures are administered without their consent and without any benefit to themselves. When the research is done, they are usually killed.
3. They Are Killed With Gas
The dominant method of slaughtering pigs in many countries is gassing. Pigs are lowered into CO2 gas chambers.
It is not peaceful. Carbon dioxide is an aversive gas that causes an intense burning sensation in the airways, which would likely feel like burning from the inside. Research has consistently shown that pigs find it deeply distressing. They react with panic, convulsions, and desperate attempts to escape before losing consciousness.
Industry describes this as a high-welfare method, which highlights that a sole focus on welfare is a betrayal of animals. We know this would be unacceptable if this was forced upon us, yet somehow when the victim is a pig, it’s ‘high-welfare’.
4. Sows Spend Much of Their Lives in Farrowing and Gestation Crates
A gestation crate is a metal enclosure barely larger than the sow’s own body, in which she is confined. She can hardly turn around. She can stand, and she can lie down. This is the full extent of her movement for the duration of her pregnancy, which in commercial farming is induced as frequently as possible.
A farrowing crate confines her similarly during and after birth, so that she can nurse her piglets without being able to engage in natural mothering behaviours. The crate exists to protect the piglets from being accidentally crushed, a problem that arises primarily due to insufficient conditions, which have affected her physical and psychological health. Pigs are very maternal, nesting for their babies to make a comfortable environment, and like to make sure they can protect their babies. But in this situation, the mother can do nothing to help them – her body being used purely for production.
5. They Are Artificially Inseminated While Confined
Sows in commercial farming are artificially inseminated, a process that is performed on them while they are restrained, without their consent, and happens repeatedly.
The boars used to produce the semen are themselves kept in isolation and subjected to collection procedures.
These are animals whose capacity for complex social bonds is well documented. They don’t get a chance to explore or enjoy those bonds, consistently being torn from those they love, with only death or further exploitation to follow.
6. Their Bodies Are Designated As Products
At every stage of the process described above, the pig is classified not as someone but as something. Legally, they are property. Economically, they are units of production.
The pig was never consulted. All of the choices made about their lives were made with production in mind. What is unbelievable is the entire concept of rejecting their experience and refusing to morally consider them.
