Why all our pigs are having a ball (I am not making this up)

The Times of London ^ | 1/29/03 | Valerie Elliott

[IowaHawk]

FARMERS throughout the country have 90 days to put a toy in every pigsty or face up to three months in jail. The new ruling from Brussels, which is to become law in Britain next week, is to keep pigs happy and prevent them chewing each other.

Official instructions to farmers are to give pigs “environmental enrichment” by providing “manipulable material”, which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last night defined as balls.

A spokesman said: “We mean footballs and basketballs. Farmers may also need to change the balls so the pigs don’t get tired with the same one. Different colour ones will do. These rules are based on good welfare. We don’t want to come across as the nanny state, but the important thing is to see pigs happy in their environment and they like to forage with their noses.”

He added that hanging chains were also good, since pigs could brush their noses against them. The Government is not ready to recommend specific toys, however, because they know of no firm manufacturing playthings for pigs.

But farmers should be careful about scoffing at the idea: they could be fined up to £1,000 or jailed for three months if they fail to amuse their stock. And Neville Meeker, who farms near Warminster in Wiltshire, was told by a farm standards official last week that he will lose the right to use the red tractor farm logo to market his pork if he does not buy a toy for each of 64 sties.

Mr Meeker, who has 1,200 pigs, said: “I have a note here which says toys must be placed in the sties. I haven’t a clue what it means.” Yesterday he tried out a plastic aeroplane and a grey furry teddy bear. They seemed to please a small group of piglets, but he was less enthusiastic: “These toys won’t last two minutes. We’ve got to give them something that is hard-wearing. It has to be durable enough to withstand chewing for at least six months and we can’t use wood because that will cause splinter injuries and pieces could get caught in pigs’ throats.”

He is also worried about the safety aspect of having toys scattered on pen floors.

He said: “I can’t have chains because the roof of the unit is not strong enough. Pigs would just pull it down. Sadly I don’t have an old beam. I suppose I will just have to buy some balls.”

In a letter to Farmers’ Weekly he complains: “Yes, the day of the toy inspector has arrived, and it is not a TV spoof. It is the dictators of Europe who have thought this up. Good job the January sales are on. Hamleys here we come.”

He was worried, too, that he needed just one toy for every sty with 20 pigs. “Will this cause fighting? I remember how children react.”

Mark White, past president of the Pig Veterinary Society, said: “Pigs have a habit of chewing each other and they do it in all environments and especially go for pigs’ tails and ears. Animal welfarists have been arguing that we should not dock tails of pigs. Some believe it is unnecessary mutilation for aesthetic and not for medical reasons. They think if we provide pigs with things to relieve their boredom then they will not chew each other.”

He suggested softwood logs, ships’ buoys and plastic piping.

[babyface00]

I'm speechless.

Would you consider this same attitude focused on the unborn, or are they immune from considerations of being treated humanely?

I ask this because there is no doubt (as proven by numerous studies) that preborn humans feel pain, and like raising bored pigs, aborting preborn humans is currently legal in the U.S. (Currently the mothers rights (like the farmers) trump those of the unborn (like the pig))

It seems to me that the private sector (and many nonprofit groups) have failed to address this injustice. It's time for the government to step in.

[kidd]

Buy them computers.

But if you do that, they'll only post their opinions at DU and contribute articles to salon.com. Too many pigs there already.

[JimVT]

This is the right thing to do.

Right...and, who knows, maybe one of them will turn out to be another Bob Cousy?

[Librarina]

IowaHawk! My ain true luvvy!

Pigs are intelligent and they do enjoy playing with toys, just like dogs.

Maybe the farmer should teach his pigs to play Frisbee. He'd make a fortune selling tickets! Enough to keep his pigs in clover -- er, frisbees -- for the rest of his life.

[freekitty]

Oh, this is a good one.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Luk 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, [thou] Son of God most high? I beseech thee torment me not.
Luk 8:29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For often it had caught him, and he was kept bound with chains, and in fetters: and he broke the bands, and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.)
Luk 8:30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many demons had entered into him.
Luk 8:31 And they besought him, that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
Luk 8:32 And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.
Luk 8:33 Then the demons went out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

[Restin Payce]

Looks as if the pigs might be needing some personal floatation devices as well. Fortunately the PETA people are not inclined to read the Bible.

Just as an aside.....I called a pig farmer here in Indiana. He said that in fact, he and others had used bowling balls as an intertainment device for pigs. The trouble was that the pigs would roll the balls up the wall and then let them crash onto the floor. Sometimes the balls broke and then they would chew them and eat them, sometimes the floor broke and pigs would get their legs caught....the other pigs would then kill them. ( The buildings have wooden floors with small gaps between the boards to allow the manure to drop down into a storage tank.) Sometimes the balls would injure the other pigs. Altogether a bad situation. There is also no rubber or synthetic ball made yet that is able to withstand more than a week or so of the pigs teeth. A good idea I guess as the pigs seem to put on weight more rapidly when they have something to play with....just that many of them don't survive. A solution would make someone some money.

[shezza]

[RadiationRomeo]

My brother in law raises pigs. He hangs a tire in every pen so the pigs have something to play with. Keeps them from getting bored and biting each other and this cuts down on cannibalism.

[TN4Liberty]

We’ve got to give them something that is hard-wearing. It has to be durable enough to withstand chewing for at least six months and we can’t use wood because that will cause splinter injuries and pieces could get caught in pigs’ throats.

I was thinking that maybe they would like to play with some Gitmo inmates, but I'm not sure they would hold up under six months of chewing.

[Fraulein]

"I suppose I will just have to buy some balls.”

ROTFLMAO! If only it were that easy...

[ladylib]

That's cute.