Not Your Childhood Image

by lauren Ornelas, vivausa.org

When I saw what life is really like for pigs on today’s farms, I was left feeling physically sick for days. I suppose I knew they lived on concrete, indoors in factory farms. However, I was not prepared for the intensity of their confinement, and the awful reality of their boredom.

In the gestation shed, I heard a constant clanging noise. It was the sows hitting their heads against their cage doors as if trying to escape. After a while, some would give up and lie down, while others again took up their futile action.

I saw the pens where pigs are fattened up for slaughter--essentially concrete cells, each holding about a dozen pigs. In one pen, there was a pig missing an ear. Another had a rupture the size of a grapefruit protruding from his stomach. A dead pig was constantly nudged and licked by others. The stench in these places is overwhelming.

At the larger farms I visited in North Carolina, there were thousands of pigs housed in sheds. Many were dead or dying--one actually died right in front of me as I videotaped. Dead pigs had been left in the pens with the living; other pigs had been tossed in the aisles--barely alive, unable to reach food or water.

The Rescue

from isecruelty.com

On May 23, 2001, investigators openly rescued eight hens, in dire need of immediate veterinary care, from a factory farm in Cecilton, Maryland.

Jane, a hen found pinned by one wing in the wire bars of her cage, survived the amputation of her wing and enjoyed sunbathing, running through the grass, dustbathing, jumping onto her perch at night, and eating her favorite treat--grapes. Jane was free from the exploitation of the egg industry for six months before succumbing to cancer.

The hens, practically featherless and very despondent when rescued, were given a second chance at life. One year later, Jane’s seven friends are alive and doing well--enjoying a virtual paradise compared to their former existence inside a factory farm. Unfortunately, approximately 280 million hens remain in U.S. battery cages.

Environmental Destruction