Even That Was Not Enough - Pigs

Even That Was Not Enough

Pigs have are known to be smarter than a three-year-old child. They have been observed working together to get out of pens. Still these animals are tortured in the factory farms of today. From birth to slaughter, the live of a factory pig is nowhere near the natural lives these animals are meant to have in every instance including their food, housing, and birth.

Pigs are extremely smart. When in natural conditions they form packs. Helping each other out becomes a natural occurrence. In many instances, pigs are seen releasing themselves from enclosures but observing a person work the latch. After learning how, they would work together to unhitch the latch and free themselves. Many studies show that they are smarter than an average three year-old human. PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is a major organization helping to make factory farming more humane and safe for these and other animals. "When in their natural surroundings pigs are social, playful, protective animals who bond with each other, make nests, relax in the sun, and cool off in the mud. Pigs are known to dream, recognize their own names, learn "tricks" like sitting for a treat, and lead social lives of a complexity previously observed only in primates," (N. Pg.)

The usual living habits of pigs are quite clean. They like to keep their sleeping areas separate from those they eat in and another area for relieving themselves. They cannot sweat and rely on mud to cool down on hot days. In factory farms, pigs are forced to be in extreme close quarters. They barely have enough room to move around. With such little room, they are forced to walk around in their own bowel movements and sleep in it too. The buildings these animals are kept in barley have ventilation which will cause a horrific smell that the animals are very sensitive to. Smell is a pig's strongest sense and in more natural surroundings, they depend on it. The smell and close parameters of their living situation, many of the animals start to obviously go insane.

Adult female pigs, called sows, are constantly pregnant. The crates that they are kept in are called gestation crates and are not even big enough to turn around in. This is where they will eat, sleep and live. They never get the opportunity to run outside or get any materials necessary to "nest" as they would do naturally in regular circumstances. Just a few weeks after these piglets are born they are ripped from the mother. The process will start all over for the sow until she is no longer strong enough to give birth and ships off to the slaughter house. She will have more than 20 piglets a year, with no ability to be around any of them.

Piglets in a natural environment will take up to sixteen weeks to be completely out of the care of the mother. In these farms, baby pigs are stolen from their mothers at only a few weeks old. Without