Pigs

 https://justiceforanimals.org/?curid=362

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This draft is in the process of being written by User:Bethany.Chester. It will be moved to the main namespace when it is completed.

<-- Visible editorial notes appear between <-- and --> tags. You can delete them after you start on a section or you can hide them by using the standard notation for comments, adding an exclamation mark: "." They should be deleted, hidden or not, before the pre-publication review. The author should delete this particular one after reading it. -->

This article provides information about pigs that should prove useful to those advocating for animal rights, as well as to those exploring the rationale for veganism.

It covers various aspects of farmed pigs in the context of animal rights, including injustices and suffering, humane labels and certifications, pig sentience and cognition, the environmental consequences of farming pigs, the health risks of pig meat, and impacts to communities and workers

<-- Use Chickens as a model for this article. Deviations are allowed, of course. The books Slaughterhouse, and Eating Animals can help in running down primary sources, if you have those books or can get them. -->

General Information

Lineage

Pigs were domesticated approximately 9000 years ago from various subspecies of the Eurasian wild boar. Domestication occurred separately in Europe and Asia, though there is evidence that interbreeding later took place. Pigs were brought to North America by Spanish explorers in the 16th century.

Numbers

<-- when referring to numbers slaughtered, link to this table instead of using a footnote. -->

Worldwide, over 2 billion pigs are slaughtered for meat each year. In the United States alone, over 121 million are killed annually.

Using data from the USDA Census of Agriculture and the EPA's definitions of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, the Sentience Institute estimates that 98.3 percent of pigs in the USA are factory-farmed. The figures for other industrialized nations are likely to be similar.

Injustices and Suffering

The injustices inherent in exploiting pigs and other non-human animals stem from seeing them as commodities having only instrumental value, lacking any inherent worth apart from their usefulness to humans.

As Tom Regan put it, the animals we use "have a life of their own that is of importance to them, apart from their utility to us. They are not only in the world, they are aware of it and also of what happens to them. And what happens to them matters to them. Each has a life that fares experientially better or worse for the one whose life it is."

As shown in the section on sentience and cognition, pigs not only have a will to live and value their lives, just as humans do, but also have desires, preferences, emotions, families, social communities, natural behaviors, a sense of themselves, and a sense of the future.

The injustices discussed below—all arising from a failure to recognize the inherent worth of other sentient beings—are either standard practice or not unusual. And, as shown in the section below on humane labels and certifications, this is true even for those pig products with a humane label or certification. To omit a significant number of these injustices would likely increase costs to the point of rendering pig meat unaffordable by all but the most affluent.

Loss of Life

We have no nutritional need for pork, so denying pigs their lives is unnecessary, as are the other forms of suffering enumerated here. Not only are we taking their lives—we are doing so after allowing them to live only about three percent of their natural life spans. Pigs are slaughtered after living only 5 to 6 weeks of a 10 to 12-year natural lifespan.

To take the life of any sentient being is to harm that being by depriving them of opportunities for fulfillment, even if it is done suddenly and painlessly (which it is not, as explained below).

Slaughter

<-- discuss methods of slaughter, for example: USDA inspecter testimonials, slaughter speed lines, and the cruelty involved. The books Slaughterhouse" and Eating Animals can help if you have them or can get them. —>

Another Injustice / Abuse

Another Injustice / Abuse, etc

Pigs Left to Die after Natural Disasters

<-- Discuss. I heard pigs have sometimes been left to die so that insurance can be collected after flooding and hurricanes. If you can find sources, include that. -->

In the USA, pigs have been left to die in the floods following major hurricanes. An estimated 5500 pigs drowned following Hurricane Florence, and 21,000 were killed by Hurricane Floyd.

Humane Labels and Certifications

<-- These should be US-centric, but feel free to include other certifications/labels as well, particularly if they are widely used across multiple countries. -->

Many believe that we are not harming animals when we use them for food as long as we treat them well while they are living. The justification given for this view is that animals don't have a sense of the future, and thus don’t have an interest in continuing to live. However, current research in cognitive ethology and neurobiology, as shown below, says otherwise.

But if one holds this belief in spite of the science, and wants to live by their own values, they might, with good intentions, decide to buy only animal products that have some sort of humane label or certification.

In the sections that follow, we show that standards are weak and unenforced, audits and inspections are rarely done, and if they are done and violations are found, which is infrequent, no one gets fined.

So even if you buy into the idea that it’s OK to eat animal products as long as the animals are treated well, there is virtually no chance that the animals have, in fact, been treated well, regardless of what label is on the package. While certain labels may represent less suffering for some of the abuses, other abuses remain. The mitigation of some of the cruelties does not justify the remaining ones.

Humane labels and certifications are, for the most part, marketing ploys. They are designed to assuage our guilt, and they can engender higher profits because the industry knows that concerned, kindhearted consumers are willing to pay more for products they perceive to be humanely produced.

The life of any farmed animal can only be described as one of commodified, abusive servitude ending in brutal slaughter. When viewed objectively, free from the fog of our cultural norms, their treatment and slaughter, by any standard of fairness and justice—cannot be considered humane.

Label or Certification 1

Label or Certification 2, etc

Sentience and Cognition

While we are not suggesting that the degree of moral consideration given to an animal be based on their cognitive capacity, it seems that most people are not fully aware of the rich cognitive, emotional, and psychological lives that pigs experience.

<-- Discuss. Include evidence pigs that have desires, preferences, emotions, a sense of themselves, and a sense of the future. -->

Studies have shown that pigs can distinguish between objects and remember objects for at least five days. This shows that they have long-term memory. They are also able to learn the meaning of symbols representing actions and objects. In one experiment, pigs were able to understand and respond to combinations of symbols that represented phrases such as “fetch the ball.” They have also been recorded using tools.

Few studies have been done on time perception in pigs, but there is evidence that they can anticipate the future. For example, one study found that pigs reacted negatively with high-pitched vocalizations when they knew a negative event was coming. They are also skilled at using spatial information — navigating mazes, for example.

Pigs also engage in play, considered to be an indication of cognitive complexity. When raised without enough stimulation, they can develop behavioral abnormalities. They have been shown to make more positive decisions when given more stimulation, which is evidence that environmental enrichment can make them more optimistic.

Studies show that pigs can discriminate between individuals, whether human or other pigs. Though it is not clear whether they can recognize their reflections, pigs in some studies have been able to find food that was only visible in a mirror. They have also been taught to play video games, controlling the joysticks with their mouths or snouts. This provides some evidence of self-awareness, as the pigs understood that their actions were causing the cursor to move. Many animals, such as dogs, do not show these capabilities.

In one study, some pigs were trained to anticipate negative events when a certain piece of music was played. Others were not trained, but exhibited similar stress responses to the nearby trained pigs when the music was played. This provides evidence that pigs can recognize and pick up on each other's emotions, which may mean they experience empathy. Pigs also show a range of personality traits such as sociability, exploration, and aggression.

According to Dr. Donald Broom of the University of Cambridge, pigs are cognitively capable of being more sophisticated than three-year-olds.

Environmental Consequences

The breeding, confinement, and slaughter of pigs have a profoundly negative impact on the environment.

<-- discuss -->

Human Health, Nutrition

Health, Nutrition Topic 1

Health, Nutrition Topic 2, etc

Animal Protein

All animal protein, pig meat or otherwise, carries risks that are not associated with plant protein. A review by Dr. Sofia Ochoa cites 42 studies showing that animal protein

• elevates hormone insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which stimulates cell division and growth in both healthy and cancer cells and "has been consistently associated with increased cancer risk, proliferation, and malignancy"

• "results in us having higher circulating levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO)," which "injures the lining of our vessels, creates inflammation, and facilitates the formation of cholesterol plaques in our blood vessels"

• causes the overproduction of the hormone fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), which damages our blood vessels, can "lead to enlargement of the cardiac ventricle, and is associated with heart attacks, sudden death, and heart failure"

• can result in the overabsorption of heme iron, causing the conversion of other oxidants into highly reactive free radicals that "can damage different cell structures like proteins, membranes, and DNA" (heme iron "has also been associated with many kinds of gastrointestinal cancers")

• can result in a higher incidence of bone fractures because of animal protein's high concentrations of sulfur

• contributes to atherosclerosis—plaques of cholesterol that accumulate in the lining of our vessels; this condition is far less common on a vegan diet because absorbable cholesterol is not found in plants

Social Consequences of Pig Production

<-- Discuss worker issues, pig shit being sprayed in North Carolina, etc. -->

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This article was originally authored by Bethany Chester with contributions by Greg Fuller . The contents may have been edited since that time by others.