PETA Wants To Bring Hog Farm To Steps Of Capitol Building

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by Michael dEstries April 30, 2009
Categories: Animals.

hogfarm

In an effort to show lawmakers just how the swine flu came about, PETA has submitted an application to Capitol Police to set up a a real-life hog farm on the steps of the Capitol, complete with urine, manure and fans to blow the odor around. The group hopes to replicate conditions that caused the outbreak to start in the first place — and also convince Americans that the best way to avoid these diseases in the future is by going vegetarian.

“Meat has long been linked to heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer, but disease-breeding factory farms could be the death of us all,” said PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “The best way to protect animals and our own health–individually and globally–is to go vegetarian.”

The PETA display would include 3,500 1-gallon buckets of pig manure and urine (to represent the 3,500 tons of polluting animal waste that the average factory farm produces each year), Three “pigs” in narrow metal crates (to represent the 3 million mother pigs who are so severely confined that they are unable even to turn around or take a single step in any direction), and large fans to send the odors wafting throughout the plaza. They would also have informative literature about factor farming and going vegetarian available to the public. I think all I’d need would be a barf bag.

Don’t expect this application to get approved — though wouldn’t it be great if it did? Would be quite the eye-opener for lawmakers to see first-hand how some hog farms operate. More details here.


Categories: Animals.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • Ashley

    This is actually clever. Unlike sea kittens and human milk in Ben & Jerry’s, this will make people think about the dirty conditions that breed death.

  • http://empathyforanimals.blogspot.com/ oneandonlyhypnos

    I agree. This could really make people think about the issues and this might help people cut through the meat industry propaganda. The swine flu is just one of many diseases that stems from these cruel practices. The sooner this all disapears the better!

  • http://greenergirl.typepad.com GreenerGirl

    Meanwhile, CNN is reporting that the Pork industry is very very hurt by the term swine flu and complain that it is having a negative impact on their business.

    Am I dreaming this, or is this really happening?? I’m STUNNED. Beyond words.

  • http://www.vegspinz.blogspot.com DJ Karma (VegSpinz)

    I think PETA needs to get their facts straight before performing a demonstration. The swine flu from pigs are rarely passed on to humans. This new mutated virus is actually comprised of human flu, avian (bird) flu, and swine flu, and the origins are not yet known. If their wanting to demonstrate to show the cruelty, more power to them! But, they’ll only get laughed at if they base their demonstration on pigs infecting humans.

  • http://www.veganjapan.net herwin

    there are 3 million pigs in nthe usa ? in Holland where i come from there are alomst as many pigs (13 million average) as people (15 million and up)

  • http://empathyforanimals.blogspot.com/ oneandonlyhypnos

    @DJ Karma: there are many reports that indicate that the human strain of the pig flu originated on a factory farm. The conditions of these farms are good feeding grounds for such diseases. The link with the meat industry seems quite apparent as far as I am concerned. when there was no factory farming, this situation wouldn’t have arisen…

  • Pingback: PETA vill ta svinhus till Capitol « varavegan.se

  • http://www.ingaambrosia.com Inga Ambrosia

    DJ Karma … swine flu is karma … there will be plenty more where that came from, as the boomerang is finally on it’s way back. No one will be laughing when the chicken flu, cow flu and fish flu show up.

  • VeggieTart

    Yeah, I really want PETA turning my city into a cesspool. Hello, PETA, vegetarians and vegans do live in DC, you know!!!

  • http://RawfoodsRetreat.com erin RawfoodsRetreat.com

    VT lol… I think the pigs would be a welcome relief compared to most of the swine that live in that cespool of a city!

    E

  • Whoever…

    “What goes around comes around”…

    I don’t believe in the ‘traditional’ karma but I do know that if we don’t stop and think about our way of life (all over the world), then we will pay the ultimate price!

    If we continue to treat animals as mere products and to act as if the environment’s balance will never be broken, then the day will come when no WHO or governmental protection service will be able to save us…

    By destroying entire ecosystems and allowing factory farming to exist, we are unleashing viruses and creating new strains of viruses that can truly cause a real pandemic.

    Global warming is already allowing certain diseases from southern countries to spread to northern countries, diseases which didn’t exist there before. Mosquitoes and other insects that couldn’t thrive in lower temperatures are now able to move north. This will result in the increase of people infected by viruses carried by those insects!

    When will humankind learn!?

    What more do we need to open our eyes?

    Humans can be really stupid sometimes…

  • http://our1planet.wordpress.com David

    It is going to take something like a flu pandemic – or worse – for people to pay attention to what they’re doing. It’s so easy to ignore the truth, to pretend that actions don’t have reactions, and that apathetic mentality is the cause of many of our society’s problems.

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