The Sorrowful Lives of Sows in Factory Farms: Pig Cruelty Facts

December 20, 2021December 20, 2021 Lekshmi Mohan

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In this article, we present facts about cruelty to the pig in factory farm settings, where they are bred to be slaughtered. Like all “food” animals, the pigs also undergo a lot of abuse. Besides pork and bacon, there are way too many byproducts that humans have been exploiting and abusing pigs for, since ages. Insulin for regulation of diabetes, valves for human heart surgery, suede for shoes and clothing, gelatin, water filter, insulation, rubber, crayons, chalk, wax, adhesives, fertilizers, lard fat (used in creams, soaps, make-up, and other cosmetics)… the list seems never-ending.

Before we begin the article, here’s something that not many people know about pigs.

Did You Know? Pigs are believed to be one of the most intelligent animals on the planet. Studies have shown that they can play video games, move the cursor on the screen with their snouts, and also distinguish between familiar scribbles and new ones. They are proven to be skilled at mazes and other tests requiring the location of objects, and have excellent long-term memories. They can even use a mirror to find hidden food. This is probably because they are very good at foraging for food; they have these specialized skills to locate everything, starting at an age as young as two weeks.

Pig life subject to cruelty in a farm

Factory farm settings are ruthless, which goes without saying. These soulful creatures, who require plenty of free space and air, are entrapped in metal enclosures with barely any space to move or breathe. The pig who loves to forage all day is forced to feed in less than 15 minutes on a concrete floor with nothing to explore, which if done to humans, would be regarded as cruelty. The floors that sows have to spend their lives on are slatted. This is for them to be able to pass feces at the same place where they sleep and spend their days. Lack of hygienic environments impact their strong sense of smell and contribute to various behavioral changes in them as well as to the spread of diseases and infections.

Did You Know? Pigs are amazing navigators with a great sense of direction and distance. They are known to trot long hauls and can run at a speed of 11 mph. And, unlike the myth, pigs don’t sweat and they prefer cool surfaces. That is why they keep playing on cool, muddy surfaces to regulate their body temperatures. They are animals that maintain a separate sleep area and toilet area. These curly-tailed cuties are not only smarts but also cleans too!

Gestation crates

Needless to say, the process of breeding is also exploitative. Sows are constantly impregnated through artificial insemination. They can give birth to a litter of 12 piglets at a time. Throughout this process, they are placed in ‘gestation crates,’ which are so small that they can barely turn around. Their suffering doesn’t end once they have given birth. They will be further moved into steel cages where they will be able to see their babies but not nurse them. This causes severe stress, discomfort, and prolonged suffering in these sensitive animals.

Also, like humans, mother pigs are generally very protective and have strong maternal instincts. They grunt in a particular tone to let their piglets know that milk is available. This rhythmic grunting will help piglets understand and behave accordingly. But the piglets are separated immediately at birth causing extreme distress in both the mother and her babies. This cruel separation is seen as an accepted norm in the pork industry where they aren’t seen as pigs and babies, but just as tools for profit. Cruelty to the pig in factory farms thus takes on an entirely new meaning in destroying the mother-newborn relationship.

Did You Know? Pigs have a lovely communication system where they use at least 20 different sounds for the vocalization of a wide range of emotions including hunger and mating. Their squeals can be as loud as 115 decibels. And do you know what is the best and the cutest part? They love to snuggle and sleep nose to nose!! Mother pigs also sing to their babies while nursing. Newborn piglets learn to run toward their mothers’ voices.

Castration, ear notching, and tail docking

Another shocking practice that smacks of extreme cruelty to the pig in factory farms is the performing of painful procedures on piglets in the form of physical mutilations, called castration. Male piglets are castrated with a knife shortly after their birth and these are done without any anesthetic and hence, are extremely painful and traumatic. These horrific practices lead to increased stress and they keep trembling for days thereafter. This also leads to aggression among the otherwise gentle pigs in the future.

In order to identify each pig from the other, the factory workers make unique notches on their ears, to distinguish their litter number and their individual numbers. This only reinstates the underlying fact that these animals are only seen as machines on an assembly line and not as beings with lives in them.

When pigs are subjected to stressful environments living in captivity in bare minimum spaces, they begin to exhibit aggressive behaviors, one among them being biting their own tails. The animals are subjected to another gruesome practice known as tail docking, where their tails are chopped off without any anesthetic.

Did You Know? Pigs display a wide range of emotions and have their own unique personalities. They have an intricate social life as well. They learn from each other and are playful to the extent that they participate in play fighting. Playful behavior is a common trait of pigs and is a great indication of their social intelligence. They form strong bonds with other pigs. They can easily distinguish between strangers and familiar pigs.

Transportation and slaughter

If the factory ambiance is cramped and congested, as one would expect, the transportation part isn’t any less excruciating either. Since these souls are manipulated to grow quickly and yield more market value, they grow unnaturally large. They find it difficult to walk or stand on their own due to this. They are still loaded into trucks and transported to slaughter, where they go through long journeys and some don’t even survive. They will be severely dehydrated and deprived of air, all along the way.

This doesn’t end here. As many as thousands of pigs are slaughtered every hour in a slaughterhouse. Their throats are slit open, left to bleed out and dipped in extremely hot water to remove their hairs. As horrid it can be, pigs are stunned before they are slaughtered. This means that they can see, hear, and smell other pigs around them being killed and they will also be boiled alive, to soften their skins and remove hairs.

Did You Know? Pigs love belly rubs and enjoy rubbing and scratching themselves on trees. Some pigs also exhibit the tendency to manipulate when it comes to foraging for food or in other social situations.

Consumption of pork: health issues and environmental hazards

Because these animals are crowded in the factory and live in unimaginably unhygienic conditions, the premises are often sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals. Pigs are also fed with food loaded with antibiotics and growth hormones to make them reach their ‘market weight’ quickly. These chemicals remain in their bodies and when humans consume them, it can pose various health hazards. Also, raising animals in such environments requires the usage of a lot of resources as well, such as water, grains, and other materials. In their article, Pigs: Intelligent Animals Suffering on Farms and in Slaughterhouses, PETA gives an overview of the sorrowful lives of sows along with the impact of pork products on human health and the environment.

How can we stop cruelty to the pig?

The first action to stop cruelty to the pig, and the most important one, is to stop them from being on your plate.

Secondly, each of us needs to be conscious and aware of what the ingredients are in every single thing that we buy—edibles and non-edibles. Plant-based alternatives are available for everything and by adopting those, each of us can stop contributing to this ghastly approach that butchers millions of pigs every day.

Thirdly, there are many sanctuaries for pigs and other farm animals who have been rescued from various factory settings. A visit to these places will only be an eye-opener as to how lovable these cuddle bugs can be. All of these organizations run their rescues and other operations with the support of donations and volunteers only.

Pigs are sentient animals and it is saddening and disheartening that they are seen only as cogs on wheels. From the day they are born to the day they are brutally slaughtered, these gentle, intelligent, sweet, and adorable pigs are subject to horrifying abuses.

Every pig has the right to a peaceful life where they can forage freely for food, cuddle and play with other pigs, and raise their babies happily.

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About the author, Lekshmi Mohan

“I became a vegan in 2016, the day I realized that I was contributing to speciesism. I was confident that I had taken the right decision despite all the scornful remarks. The journey so far has been an exhilarating and eye-opening one. Besides spending time with animals, I also love to travel, photograph moments and nature, read books, grow plants and write occasionally. I can be reached at @the_roving_drifter.”