Pounced-on piggies: How do we define abuse?

Union Leader ^ | August 5 2002 | JOHN D. HARRIGAN

[2Trievers]

THE SOCIETY for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals is an old-line organization with an admirable mission, which is to protect helpless animals from suffering, neglect and abuse. Its mission wanders and its image suffers when it takes its eye off the ball and strays into fringe areas, such as campaigning against hunting or trying to stop a pig chase at a county fair.

Recently the New Hampshire SPCA tried to get an injunction to halt a “pig scramble” scheduled, as is long-time tradition, for the Stratham Fair. A judge quickly denied the injunction, saying just cause had not been shown.

The SPCA worried that the piglets might be injured or stressed to the point of long-term harm, and that piglets awarded to captors as prizes might be taken home by people totally unable and unprepared to take good care of them. One SPCA staffer said she once had seen a family carrying a piglet in a sack around a fair for several hours after the event.

Animal experts, veterinarians and fair organizers countered that nobody could remember any injuries, the stress was comparable to the stress during capture of piglets for inoculations, there are age and weight restrictions on youngsters participating in the chase, no more than one person can grab a piglet at a time (meaning no tug-of-war struggles over a hapless piglet), and fair policy is for the pigs to be kept in a pen until the winning families are ready to leave. As for the proper care argument, families unable to care for a piglet tend to give it to someone who can.

The SPCA can and does do good work when it focuses on its main mission of preventing domestic animal abuse, particularly dog and cat abuse, and caring for their helpless victims. It strays into shoal waters when it goes off half-cocked on fringe issues, and earns little in return but bad publicity.