Big Pig Post

Last week I was reviewing my thoughts on my next blog post, pigs, I decided it has to be pigs. Pigs need a spokesperson. They are the most abused animal in the food chain, next to chickens, and I was feeling great about ranting about the cruelty of caged pork. Until the pigs escaped the day I had food poisoning, Noah was at work and it happened to be pouring rain. They always come to my glass door first and rub their noses on the glass with a loud squeal of delight, just to let me know they are FREE! For about an hour and I half I chased those cheeky pork pies around our half acre yard/garden.  Stoping every few minutes to check on the children in the house, Lyra was babysitting, I always leave a window open so I can hear them.  All of a sudden I hear ACDC cranked from the computer (which was off when I left).  I go and check, they are throwing crafting feathers all over the house and banging on a drum.  Warning to anyone who may want Lyra to babysit in future years. But it did help for about twenty minutes or until the next diaper change. As I kept chasing away from the garden beds I started thinking about how great a cage would be and an electric shock rod (which is how most commercial pigs are moved). I could see them now living out their days in a small cage with barley enough room to move or in a dark, cement barn never seeing the light of day. I have to say pigs are way smarter than dogs, which is why, I don't understand, why we (not me) dress them in clothes and parade our puppies to doggy ice-cream parlours (this is not a joke). How is it that pigs ended up enduring such lives?  My guess in one word, Bacon, also known as the gate way meat.  I have grown up with pigs and they have many personalities and great sense of  humour. They are very clean and love to play and always have a place for the food and a separate toilet area.  After a good hour and a half run they finally decide that the grassy field was an option. That evening we moved their electric pen out into a section of the grassy field and for about two days they just ate grass, said no to most of their other food and slept. They will still accept offerings of strawberries and avocados. So with this blog post I urge you, with all the pigs of this earth, to choose ethically raised meats and if that means going vegetarian for a meal or two, maybe you should just choose strawberries and avocados.