Pigs

In an average week more than 2 million pigs are slaughtered in the U.S., almost exclusively to be processed and eaten by people as “pork” products—primarily bacon, ham, and sausage. In 2017, about 235 million pigs were sold in the U.S., and 95% of those were raised on “farms” with 5,000 or more individual pigs. The nation’s largest “farm” keeps over 900,000 female sows at any given time designated for breeding until they are “spent” and slaughtered.

Research shows that a domestic pig produces about 13 pounds of excrement daily. At roughly 2 tons per year per pig, the nation’s pig farms produce about 270 million tons nationwide—the equivalent weight of 2.5 Golden Gate Bridges or the displacement of 5,100 Titanics. North Carolina alone is home to over 9 million pigs, mostly raised in CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations holding thousands of animals). The CAFOs’ unconscionable “disposal” of so much pig excrement has toxic effects on workers, local residents, their water supply, and the surrounding environment.

The life of a breeding sow in the U.S. pork industry is one of extreme confinement, stress, and suffering. More than 5.1 million female pigs were used for breeding in the U.S. in 2017. These naturally curious and intelligent animals are first impregnated at 7 months of age and live out their lives in a cycle of pregnancy, birth, and nursing until they are eventually sent to slaughter.

To keep sows pregnant, U.S. farmers increasingly depend on artificial insemination. According to one report, AI rose from about 1 in 10 pregnancies in 1991 to about 7 in 10 by 2000. Industrial farmers like artificial insemination’s ability to improve genetic selection and to reduce the cost of feeding and housing male boars. Prior to being inseminated, females are sometimes given drugs to stimulate ovulation—one such drug contains a hormone derived from the urine of pregnant horses, PMSG, and an analog of another originally derived from the urine of pregnant human women, hCG.

During pregnancy, most breeding sows in the past century have spent nearly all of their time confined to “gestation crates,” confinement stalls made of metal bars and only slightly larger than the pigs themselves. Such restraint makes it impossible for sows to lie down comfortably or even turn around during pregnancy. In larger operations, crates full of pregnant sows are typically lined up row after row in vast warehousing barns. Despite recent claims from some larger producers that they no longer intend to use gestation crates in the U.S., investigations have found that the method remains in widespread use.

Gestation crates are usually constructed with floors made of spaced slats to allow the pigs’ manure to fall through—so pregnant sows live directly above their own decomposing waste, exposed to high levels of ammonia. Living on the hard slatted flooring causes foot injuries, damage to joints, and even lameness. Enduring their 4-month pregnancies in a space slightly smaller than a phone-booth door, they suffer from intense boredom and frustration. Abnormal, neurotic behaviors—repeatedly biting at the bars of the crate or chewing with an empty mouth—often result, causing sores, tooth and mouth injuries, and further suffering.

Shortly before their piglets are born, pregnant sows are moved to “farrowing crates” where the piglets will be nursed. Meant to separate the mother from the piglets to avoid crushing, farrowing crates are only slightly larger than gestation crates, adding a restrictive attachment that contains the piglets adjacent to their nursing mother. Deprived of the ability to nuzzle her piglets or even turn around to see, she has enough room only to stand and lie down. No large pork producers have suggested that they intend to discontinue the use of farrowing crates.

Before they are three weeks old, piglets are removed from their mothers to endure a series of mutilations. Because tail-biting is a common behavior in captive environments and can lead to injury and infection, most pigs have a portion of their tails sheared off. Males are commonly castrated with a sharp knife, to reduce aggression and because the taste of meat from sexually mature males is considered less desirable. Pain relief is rarely provided for either operation.

After being separated from their mothers, piglets spend the next 6 months of their lives confined to pens until they reach “market weight.” They are then trucked to slaughter. Shortly after their piglets are weaned, females are commonly forced back into the restrictive gestation crates and re-impregnated. The cycle continues, with an average sow producing a couple of litters per year until she is considered spent and sent to slaughter herself. For farmers, a sow’s age matters less than the number of times she has given birth. Usually after 7 or 8 litters, fertility declines and her value is no longer sufficient.

At least half a million pigs arrive at slaughterhouses every year unable to walk or stand. Whether injured in transit or lame from the stresses of excessive confinement, these “downed” animals will end up lying on trailer bottoms or dragging themselves across waste-riddled feedlots, increasing the likelihood of further injury and pathogen infection. Still, slaughterhouse workers routinely use force to guide them to their deaths. Though the USDA has banned the slaughter of downed cows and calves for human consumption, turning downed pigs into food remains both legal and common.