O. T.--Looking for a photo

[Jim in NC]

Back in the summer, I came across an article about how Pigs were being force-fed sewage water to fatten them up before slaughter. There was an accompaning photo of a pig with a feeding tube stuck down its throat. I cannot seem to locate it. I am preparing a presentation as to the importance of maintaining family farms and preserving a safe food supply in the U.S. It is in response to the farmland that is being targeted for development in my area. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[jimont]

Jim -
Give your head a shake !! Have you ever been around pigs??? If such a photo ever existed, it would have to have been staged for some PETA type weirdo group. Ever try to make a hog do anything it didn't want to do, even once,let alone several times a day, if it needed water. So help me, people who have NO FARM EXPERIENCE seem to take up these "animal rights","factory farms" rant. Have you ever seen or heard an "Expert Farmer" interviewed or even acknowleged. It seems that people ,from every other profession on earth and have never been near a farm, are experts on raising animals or crops. Sorry for this rant, (although I shouldn't be),but my son now has to deal with an organization that insists it has the "right" to inspect his customer's farms to "approve" the way their animals are raised. Conversely,how would these "experts" react if a farmer showed up at their doorstep insisting he had the right to inspect their home or businesses.
My son has spent 15yrs developing a very successful retail/wholesale meat business based on the absolute best cuts and prepared meats derived from only small farm production. The key here is to define "small" farms. One just cannot survive to-day on the production of larger animals from a 100ac farm, but that doesn't mean that larger farmers don't care any less for the welfare of their animals. An animal will simply not gain well if placed under daily stress.
Sorry for the long post, but this subject just pushes all my buttons!!

 

[Wild Bill]

Golly, Jim...all the farmers I know are in the business of raising healthy animals.

That may just be some peta nonsence. Can't imagine what good anyone would think sewage water would do for livestock

 

[Coloken]

There is also a picture out there of a poor little bunney rabit straped down with his fur shaved off in patches to try chemicals on for the cosmetic industry. Not the kind of thing that a bunch of good country people appreciate. Kenny

 

[johnand cindy]

Amen!!!!!! Preachit!!! Great Post jimont
That needed to be said. Thanks, John

 

[Jim in NC]

This photo is legit. I have seen it. I am not a PETA lover by any means. The water systems in China are so polluted that this is one way they are trying to clean their water. Another is to raise fish for food in this type of water also. There have been many instances of tainted food from China stopped from entering the US in the last few months. I can find the article but cannot locate the photo. When one is faced with the prospect of losing one's freedom to chose his or her preferred lifestyle in a place desirable to reside (I am the fifth generation owner of this farm), I believe in taking a stand and not kowtowing to the realtors and developers that are pushing the local governments into doing this.

 

[Jim in NC]

I am not the enemy here. Please see mty second post above. North Carolina is ranked high in Pork production, as I am familiar with it. If I can find the link to the article, I will post it here.

 

[Walt Davies]

I found this on the web but no pictures. Reminds of the Jumping frog of Calavaras county by Mark Twain only he used lead shot.

Walt.
-------------------------------------------
Chinese pigs force-fed wastewater
July 2007

U.S. Water News Online

BEIJING, China -- Beijing police recently raided a village where live pigs were force-fed wastewater to boost their weight before slaughter, state media reported.

Plastic pipes had been forced down the pigs' throats and villagers had pumped each 220-pound pig with 44 pounds of wastewater, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

Paperwork showed the pigs were headed for one of Beijing's main slaughterhouses and stamps on their ears indicated that they already had been through quarantine and inspection, the paper said. Suspects escaped during the raid and no arrests were made, it said.

The case underscored China's chaotic food safety situation, where manufacturers and distributors often use unapproved additives, falsify expiration dates or find other methods of cutting corners to eke out small profits.

Officials have in recent weeks underscored the need to tighten up inspections, punish violators and increase surveillance.

Wei Chuanzhong, deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said local governments "should be fully aware of the importance and improve responsibility for imported and exported food safety."

His remarks, made during an inspection tour of the port city of Tianjin, were posted on the administration's Web site.

Earlier this week, inspectors announced they had closed 180 food factories nationwide in the first half of this year and seized tons of candy, pickles, crackers and seafood tainted with formaldehyde, illegal dyes and industrial wax.

"These are not isolated cases," Han Yi, an official with Wei's quality administration, was quoted as saying in the state-run China Daily newspaper.

Han's admission was significant because the agency has said in the past that safety violations were the work of a few rogue operators -- a claim aimed at protecting China's billions of dollars of food exports.

 

[fixerupper]

Good post Jimont! You said it right. If you look into a hog confinement building you see hogs quietly lounging around, you do NOT see men in green coveralls ramming hoses down the pig's throats. It's ridiculous! Jim

 

[Jim in NC]

Thanks Walt. I saw the photo on the Drudge Report when it made the news but cannot find it. I can find written articles, however. As you know, people today do not read as much. A photo is worth so much more.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Sounds like they were increasing the weight before going across the scale at the slaughterhouse, not used as a regular feeding practice. Simply cheating.

 

[jimont]

Jim -
Didn't mean to rant on you, but in your initial post, you did not indicate this practice was discovered in CHINA, not North America! If you use this picture in any presentation you may make for your cause EMPHASIZE THIS PRACTICE IS NOT USED IN NORTH AMERICA. Otherwise, PETA types and the press will conviently ignore this fact over the sensationalism that will sell newspapers and fill airtime. Remember, the farmer's voice is very seldom heard in these matters!!!

 

[Jim in NC]

I didn't even realize I left the reference to China out until you mentioned it. A member of my family works in a NCDA food testing lab. He gets updates all the time about stuff to be watching for. I am using this as an example of stuff we expose ourselves to if we, as a country, keep depending on others for our needs. There are alot of poeple around the world that don't like US.

 

[Lanse]

I dont care if it happened in China, I am in PETA and think you have a good point on the family farm importence. I dont have a problem with small farms, usually humaine with a few animals, but you just dont see that anymore in most places. I dont agree with raising animals for meat, but dont have a problem with it done humainly.
Not for the faint of heart

 

[jimont]

Go for it Jim!!! I'm behind you all the way now that you've cleared things up. In frustration, I've seen this problem comming for years. Just remember that this is a North American problem,not just for the U.S.(I am a fourth generation Canadian farmer).
To be specific, spend a lot of time getting your case ready and well researched. You can bet that your opposition will be very well prepared as well and it will be up to you to prove your point.
Been there, done that on many occasions. Remember to always put the ball back in their court and to answer a question with a question if you find yourself in a corner. It confuses them !!

 

[jimont]

Lanse -
Do you realize that you just shot yourself in the foot?? If you TRULY believed in the twisted thinking of PETA, why would you say "I don't care if it happened in China". If you truly believed in animal welfare, why would it be ok to treat any animal, any where in the world, the way those hogs were treated??? Any true farmer would never ever treat an animal is such a manner. You odviously don't farm, or even have the slightest knowledge of the farming community if you believe a living can be made to-day on a "small farm with a few animals".
It WOULD be possible, but YOU couldn't afford to eat, whether you are a vegetarian or not. Modern society has been fed much too long with the cheap food policy of our governments in Canada and the U.S. which necessitates larger and larger farms in order to stay in business.

 

[fixerupper]

I didn't realize it was China either, which gets me going on another Chinese pork related sore spot. China doesn't want pork from hogs that have been given 'palene', and I don't know if I spelled it right, but China is one of the world's worst polluters, with tens of thousands of children damaged from mercury, lead and arsenic and then they come unglued about a trace of this hormone in the US pork they import. I know it's political but!!!!Jim

 

[Jim in NC]

A group of us has been fighting this for a year and a half. We have given speeches at local government meetings and lobbied state legislators. $2.25 million in funding was requested for further study of this project during this year's session. The supporters did not get their tax money. Maybe we made some difference.

 

[Lanse]

I meant I am opposed to that kind of thing anywhere, I DONT CARE WHERE. I dont see anything twisted with PETA. I do not think you small time guys that treat your animals well in genral deserve the crap you get. I do, and think people should focus more on these massive factory farms then a small family farm with a few pigs of a couple dozen chickens for meat.

 

[paul]

Peta is about the worst terrorist orginization in this country. It is run by 4 people with black souls. It's supporters are the plastic, out of touch people of southern California. You can't get more fake than that group.

They have nothing good to do.

Ever.

Aweful, soul=less people.

You don't want to come around a rural community & say you support such bad people.

Ick.

--->Paul

 

[Anonymous-0]

Another good reason to boycot all Chinese products

 

[Clint Youse MO]

hey lanse why dont you define a factory farm for us we produce 20000 hogs a year but are family owned and work with another family owned operation so am I a factory farmer i am just trying to make a living and support my family we raise our own meat and butchered last week i had a nutrition class in college that said a true vegetarian will die in five years unless they cheat our take a bottle of supplements a day our bodys were made to eat meat I am fighting with our legislatature currently about being able to put up more buildings they want to make it hareder and harder until they force us under but that is the abundant way. In another post you said you raise sheep well if not for meat what are they for??