Another Reason For Me To Become A Vegetarian...

[elizabethann]

Poor pig....

Slaughterhouse-bound pig tries to escape
November 15, 2005

ELLSWORTH, Maine --A 280-pound pig delayed, but couldn't derail, its trip to a Bangor slaughterhouse when it bolted from a wooden trailer after its owners had stopped at a red light.

The pig made its break for freedom shortly before noon Monday and scampered down the road. Police were soon in pursuit, following the brown-spotted pink sow through several yards before it plopped down on the ground about a half hour after its leap from the trailer.

"She was tired so she laid down," said Officer Daniel Owens. "That's probably the most exercise she has had in her life."

Using a rope and a flexible plastic backboard, police and firefighters tried to drag the pig back to the trailer. The pig protested by curling its lips and letting out piercing squeals that made bystanders wince.

"You just feel badly for the poor thing," said neighbor Barbara Williams, who watched from a distance.

With help from the pig's owners, who live in Bar Harbor, police and firefighters were finally able to muscle the animal back onto the trailer, where it laid down on a pile of dirt and crab apples and closed its eyes.

The owners then jumped into the cab of the pickup truck and resumed the trip to the slaughterhouse.

[senorita02]

that is sooo sad and horrible

[Miss Z]

I am a veggie and that stories like that have made me one. I don't see how those owners could live with themselves after their pig drove itself to near exhaustion to get away Some people are sick they make me sooooooooooo mad fortunately there are a lot of people who care about animals out there and will stick up for animals in need!

[jackie]

Yes, it is sad, but that pig was born and raised for food. The owners aren't bad people, everyone has a job.

[Vela]

Well first off, the pig probably had no idea it was being sent to the slaughterhouse. We too often give all animals human thoughts and emotions and while they do have feelings and shoudl be treated with respect, even slaughter bound animals, it is highly doubtful that the pig knew it was being sent to the slaughterhouse. More than likely it got scared by traffic and ran because of that. There is nothing wrong with raising animals for food and not everyone wants to be a vegetarian. I personally have had pigs and a steer raised for food and right up until death they lived a humane well cared for life and were perfectly happy their whole lives. They were never treated badly and always had free roam and good food. To accuse the owners of being horrid people because they raised a pig for food and it took off down the street, is rather silly. It ran until it was exhausted probably becuase it was scared, but doubtful it was scared of being slaughtered, since it probably had no idea. It is sad the pig was frightened, but that doesn't make the people who raised it for food horrid people.

[Corinna]

Vela, well said I am goingto agree with you. It will most likely put us both in the "doghouse" with many people here on the form but I love a good pork chop and steak and make no apoligies for it. I too raised animals for food all my life, the last 5 years I haven't been able to (living in town). Sure miss good meat store stuff is really bad. Had a couple cows, pigs,and rabbits in 4-H projects .

[Vela]

Well I don't mind being in the doghouse=) Except my dogs would all be in the house and warm without me! Thankfully, we are all entitled to disagree about how things are done. I disagree with pain and suffering for slaughter-bound animals, I disagree strongly with the painful and horrible forms of animal testing and the fur trade etc etc, but even many vegetarians wear leather, use glue and gelatin and other byproducts of animal slaughter, and those who have meat eating pets feed them meat, because meat eating pets are not healthy on a vegetarian diet. Note, those who are about to get upset, I did not say ALL I said many. I do not condone harming animals for our use and think there should be much much stricter policies in place for the treatment and welfare of animals, whether they are bound for slaughter or not, but I am not against people who choose not to live a vegetarian lifestyle. I think things should be done humanely and the horrid things that happen should be stopped, but it does not mean I am against the use of animals for human consumption, you can be an animal lover and not be a vegetarian=), at least IMO. People not eating meat will not end animal slaughter because too many other products are used that result from it (probably many that we are not even aware of). We, and the animals, would be better served with better animal protection laws in general.

[elizabethann]

RUN TURKEYS...RUN!!!

Live turkeys fall off truck in New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. --Maybe they knew what was coming. Two dozen live turkeys bound for Thanksgiving tables fell off a truck Friday on the New Jersey Turnpike, briefly snarling traffic near Newark Liberty International Airport.

"I think we should be investigating this as an escape attempt," said Joseph Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

The two crates fell as a truck was leaving the highway, and a toll booth supervisor who spotted them contacted authorities. The birds, which survived the fall, will presumably be returned to the trucker -- if the driver notices they're missing, Orlando said.

[Vela]

Well I hope they weren't injured! But I sincerely doubt they were trying to escape, I'm pretty sure they knew even less than the pig about where they were going. I do hope they aren't hurt though.

[Lady's Human]

The turkeys that are farm raised have absolutely ZERO chance of survival away from a farm. They've been raised and bred to eat, not for survival instinct.

[Miss Z]

Wahooooo go turkeys!!! Poor things could not survive too long anyway if they are caught (i sincerely hope that they aren't) but as we might say in england, jolly good show!!!

I understand that animals will not stop being slaughtered for food because some people are veggies, it just simply pains me to think of a life like any other being lost for our enjoyment. Maybe i'm too soft (my meat-eating family think so), but i cannot help feeling sorry for any slaughter-bound lamb that i pass in a field when i'm in the car. I have a friend who is strictly vegan, and once she was almost sick when we had to use liver in chemistry by simply thinking about what the animal used to look like.

Anyway, if the turkeys are caught, then instead of being killed, they can come and be my pets!!!( dunno what my family would think though!!!)

[.sarah]

If animals were treated humanely before being slaughtered and DURING being slaughtered I would most definetly still be a meat eater. In most (not all) cases, animals are treated poorly while living and while dying. They are not given free range, birds are kept in cages where they can't even stretch their wingspan, cows are kept in cages to be milked and their calfs are taken away from them and slaughtered - sometimes not even for meat. Usually animals aren't killed humanely, either. They are not given drugs, they are not given a quick death, they are given prolonged agony. Cows are usually slit at the throat and then are allowed to bleed to death. Birds have their beaks broken off before they are killed.

Can you imagine the pain they go through? It is awful. If this weren't the case, I would eat meat. I'm not doing it for my health. I'm not doing it because it's "cool." Being a vegetarian is annoying. It's hard to find food you can eat, especially when you're a picky eater. You're constantly questioned ... "you mean you NEVER eat meat? How can you do that? We're made to eat meat!" and blah blah blah.

However, I will not ever go back to eating meat after being a vegetarian. It would be wierd, and this time I've been doing it will have been a waste. Fake meat is finally starting to taste good to me. Restaraunts are starting to make veggie burgers. I have absolutely no problem with them cooking it on the same grill as the meat. That's not what I care about. What I care about is the animals' well being.

And just for a disclaimer, what I stated is true for most cases, not all. There are several farms who have poultry and beef raised for meat who are treated and killed humanely. I have no problem with that. I never understand how people do it, though. I could never eat something that I raised, much less slaughter it I've always felt that way.

[.sarah]

Yes, it is sad, but that pig was born and raised for food. The owners aren't bad people, everyone has a job.

That statement breaks my heart

[Miss Z]

Exactly .sarah i know just what you mean. I read somewhere that chickens going to a slaughter house will only be six weeks old because they have been interbred to produce huge sizes at a young age. Also, in the slaughter house, five chickens are kept in a cage that is no bigger than a household oven. Surely that is not acceptable?

[CagneyDog]

That statement breaks my heart

I'm not sure why you find that statement so heatbreaking?