Why are the Taiwanese breeding such fat pigs?
( 2003-08-14 15:01) (The Guardian )
They are known as the "pigs of god", but their enormous bulk has nothing to
do with the heavens and everything to do with force-feeding. Several hundred of
the grossly obese pigs will be weighed and then slaughtered as part of a ritual
sacrifice in Taiwan this weekend.
Animal welfare groups are calling for the annual ceremony to be scrapped.
"For an animal to have been made so deliberately obese is incredibly cruel
physically and psychologically," says Philip Lymbery of the World Society for
the Protection of Animals.
It takes about two years to fatten up the pigs. They are allowed to gorge on
unlimited food supplies until they reach about 400kg, then they are transferred
to a tiny pen. Unable to turn around or stand up, they are force-fed milk, fish
and vegetables through a tube until their weight reaches as much as one tonne.
As the heaviest pig wins, some unscrupulous farmers used to feed their
animals sand or metal in the run-up to the contest - a practice now ended by
x-ray scans. The fully-fed pigs are unable to walk and it takes five or six
people to drag them to be weighed, before the animals are trussed and have their
throats cut.
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