Pigs will eat anything. Pigs will eat people.
Case in point: Yesterday, a Medford-area woman was convicted of murdering two men and feeding their corpses to her pigs. Gross, right? Well, yeah, except what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Or, more correctly, what’s good for the human is good for the pigs.
Bacon-haters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) apparently want this double murder to be a lesson to all of us. They have “purposed” (This is why we can’t have nice things, TV news) this billboard, containing a cute little ingredient for a BLT piglet, reminding us all to put a green checkmark next to “Respecting All Life by Going Vegan.”
Awwwwwwwww, cute. But, no. I personally am all about feeding pigs to people, and I could be convinced to get on board with feeding people to pigs. But I want to know how YOU feel, Mercury readers!
So let’s have a poll, shall we?
One word, bacon, duh
You don’t have to go vegan – just stop buying pork. If a corporation like Chiplote found that industry too unethical to engage with, it’s probably worth considering.
Perhaps someone from PETA could explain to me how going vegan, which involves eating plants which have been alive at some point, is “respecting all life”.
I don’t recall the taxonomy precisely, but I think the PETA people may be engaged in “kingdomism”.
People Eating Tasty Animals.
Mmmm… long pig.
People who have spent time around pigs compare them to dogs because they are so loyal, friendly, playful, love to cuddle, and even like video games. Pigs are beloved companion animals to many people. I quit eating animal flesh 13 years ago and I have never looked back. I’m healthier, stronger, and I feel great about protecting animals and the environment. And no, plants don’t have a central nervous system.
Get into the 21st century, people. We know that pigs are intelligent beings who feel pain, terror, happiness, and love. They have complex social relationships and are fiercely loyal to their friends and families. They are just like cats and dogs. Just like I would never slaughter and eat a dog, I’ll never again eat a pig.
I love pigs–and soy sausage and veggie bacon and other mock meats. You can enjoy great food without harming animals.
So you are okay with eating living things, just not living things with a central nervous system. That is to say, the less something is like you, the more likely you are to eat it. That seems xenophobic to me.
But that is your choice to make.
How about respecting all life by allowing all life to make their own choices about what to eat. I am okay with that.
I’m convinced we should be making reparations to so-called farm animals for the violent history of domestication, their ongoing confinement, for repeated forced impregnations, unanasthetized castrations, dehornings, tail docking, beak cutting, and branding, for the emotionally distressing separation of mother and child, the physical, psychological, and emotional neglect and abuse, and of course for the premature (and violent) termination of their lives – all enacted unilaterally and without consent, and rationalized on the basis of an incoherent categorical distinction between “the human” and “the animal”. For me, and for growing numbers of people, it doesn’t really matter how good “bacon” tastes. It is, and will always essentially be, the end product of an unjustifiably cruel, pitiless, and devaluing institution that demands abolition.
People can help the planet, their own health, and of course animals by getting started by simply skipping the meat one day a week, Meatless Mondays, say. Then, when you realize that it’s not difficult and you are still satisfied, make it two days, then three … next thing you know you’re vegetarian. It’s not some kind of massive shift, just some easy decisions. Why wouldn’t you give it a try?