Secret Lives of Sows

The vast majority of pregnant pigs (sows) who produce piglets who will become bacon, ham and pork spend their entire adult lives confined in barren, metal crates only slightly larger than themselves. Unable to turn around or even fully extend their limbs, 80% develop crippling and painful arthritis and a further 16% of these develop fractures of their legs and hips.

Because they are not provided with straw or any other substrate, their natural instincts to root and create a nest for their soon-to-arrive piglets are constantly thwarted. This intense deprivation leads to the development of stereotypies - abnormal repetitive behaviours such as those seen in this video. The head bobbing and swaying serves the same purpose as rocking in untreated humans with severe mental disorders. The action causes small amounts of seratonin and endorphins to be released from the brain, calming the sow some.

If you would like to help these tormented sows (and boars - as they are just as confined but in smaller numbers), please write to your provincial Agriculture Minister urging them to pass legislation phasing out the use of these gestation crates. To have a more immediate, direct affect on the sows, reduce or eliminate your consumption of the products that are made from their worn-out bodies: sausages, sausage patties, pepperoni and the other highly spiced and processed meats. These are the only products their meat can be used in as the spices are needed to mask the poor quality of the meat.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Secret
• Lives
• of
• Sows
• pigs
• swine
• farrowing
• Manitoba
• Canada
• cruelty
• abuse
• confinement
• gestation
• stall
• crate
• arthritis
• ethical
• treatment
• food
• animal
• sausage
• meat
• pepperoni
• Twyla
• Francois
• barn
• factory
• deprived
• stereotypy
• injure
• ivermectin
• dewormer
• neurotoxin
• pharmaceutical
• drug
• tainted
• toxic
• antibiotic

[horsesinnyc]

Horrible, please go vegan

[androclestipster]

where has our humanity gone? When did these animals become a food commidity. I know, years and years ago. A bigger cage won't make a bit of difference. The end of the suffering for these animals is the only thing that will help them. People should try being vegitarians and stop the cruelty. We can live without meat. It's a proven fact. End their suffering now.

[kkcontracting2006]

For those of you that don't know anything about the pork industry. The purpose of gestation crates is for disease control. With free range the opportunity of contracting diseases is very likely. These pigs are feed well and treated by vets when they do become sick. It may look horrible but these animals are treated weel

[MeTheDragonfly]

I think the main reason the world is like this is because there is an over-population of people. More people means a greater demand on meat. So we have too many people in the world and there isn't enough meat to go around on farms for free range.

Another thing they forgot to mention is that not eating meat is actually healthy for you.

[ironicsky]

Check out helpthepigs.ca sign the petition

[juliansoto18]

Quien osa a hacer esto es un hijo de remil putas nada mas a decir!

por dinero tanto sufrimiento! :S no es justo para nadaa... lo ´peor es saber que se hace y no hacer nada al respecto :(

[rockman22]

Gotta make your friends and family watch videos like these. Not many people are aware that pigs are kepts in prison, i think the misconception is that they have free range until slaughter, which we all of us here know is not the case.

[Woodsummer1]

I'm not a man hater, but whenever I see these despicable, horrific abuses to animals, I know it was designed by men. These crates, the horrible "cow barrels" used to slit cows' throats, the unimaginably horrific "retractable nail" used on horses, the concentration-camp cruelty of the PMU farms, the killing the "byproduct" foals... no woman, no mother, would ever be able to imagine such horrors. I wish there were more I could do. I wish I could help these animals. I wish... I wish.

[Rvidioes]

wow dead sow that cant feel anything left in a crate i don't feel sad about that

[apasolini]

Looking at such images makes my soul shrivel with intense sadness. Anyone who comes across such images should consider going vegan, it's the most effective way to counter such cruelty and sadism.

[777cc777]

pig hell ;......(((

[porcinemomma]

I apologize for the human race, dear sweet souls. How humans can do this to another soul is beyond me.

To be realistic, we are not going to make everyone a vegetarian, over night, but, we can fight for "humanely raised" meat. It's a baby step, the world wasn't created in a day.