Meet the Pigs – A Portrait

Introduction

2017 57,9 million pigs were slaughtered in Germany (Albert Schweitzer Stiftung). More than 40% of the farmed meat worldwide is from pigs. The meat of pigs is the most similar to human meat (Masson 2018).

Hannover Animal Save meets once a month in front of the slaughterhouse Leine-Fleisch GmbH, where 500.000 pigs are slaughtered each year. At the 21stof November 2018, this slaughterhouse is the third one within a month, which is denounced for animal abuse. Videos show how pigs are tortured with electro shockers up to 40 times (Doeleke 2018). While I was standing at the trucks and petting the pigs whose trucks were waiting in a row to drive into the slaughterhouse, while hearing the screams of pigs out of the building, I was shocked about the many scratches and wounds many of them had. I saw the very few spaces they had, fights between them, fearful eyes, cut tails and forth on some of their snaps. However, what I also realized was, that I do not know much about pigs, even though they are intelligent and not so dirty as many humans think.

This essay takes an in-depth look on who pigs are, with a focus on the domestic pig, since this is the species which is used mostly in the meat industry. To judge conditions, it is necessary to have a foundation of knowledge about the species. This essay will provide the information’s which are necessary, to argue if pigs should be ethically considered and to make qualified statements about observed conditions.

Biological Basics

Pigs belong to the phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, and the family Suidae. The family Suidae contains seventeen species and includes feral pigs and babirusa, which are endangered by habitat loss (pygmy hog).

Pigs are highly intelligent, adaptable and like humans omnivores. Wild pigs live in forests and the grasslands of Africa, Europe, and Asia. They were also successfully domiciled in Australia, America, and New Zealand. Nearly all domestic pigs descend from the European feral pig (Burnie 2017). In some regions of the world live wild pig populations, which developed out of wild domestic pigs (Lytle & Meyer 2010).

Physical Attributes

Many anatomic and physiological attributes of pigs are very similar or even identical to the ones of humans (Lytle & Meyer 2010). To the external characteristics belong a barrelled body, short legs, a short neck, and a big head. Pigs use their muzzle to search for food in the ground. The muzzle has a cartilage disc at the top, in which the nostrils are located and is based on a little bone (Burnie 2017). Lateral of the muzzle are stiff sensory bristles (Lytle & Meyer 2010). Females have smaller canines than males.

Pigs have two flattened hooves; on flat grounds, there are also two after feet, which help to carry the relatively high weight. The skin of the pigs is thick and has bristles. Their tail is rotated (Burnie 2017).

Pigs have sweat glands only in their nose. On hot summer days, they wallow in sludge to cool off their body. Water evaporates too fast; the mud lets the excess heat vaporize for a significantly more prolonged period (Masson 2018). The on dried sludge layer also protects of sunburn, cleans their skin and protects them from mosquitoes and other parasites (Lytle & Meyer 2010). That is why pigs take a sludge bath much more often in summer. After the shower, they scour of the dirt on bushes, trees, and poles (Mecklenburg 2011).

Pigs have a very sensitive sense of smell, which is why they are used for the search for truffles for centuries. Already in the first world war pigs were used to search for buried mines (Burnie 2017). If they have space, they keep their sleeping corner clean and separate toilet and living area accurately.

The hearing ability of pigs is very well. Biologist already discovered twenty different kinds of oinks, which is the way pigs communicate with each other (Fuessler 2012).

Pigs can distinguish colors and have a life span of around twelve years (Masson 2018).

Behaviour

Pigs live in groups, a sow with her offspring and female relatives. Boars only join while breeding season. Pigs are the only ungulate which have more than two offspring (except the babirusa who tends to have twins). Piglets like to play; they hunt each other, fight and frolic around. They want to play with toys, and like human children, they tend to have a short attention span. In warm summer nights, pigs like to sleep snuggled up with each other and tend to sleep nose on the nose. It is not scientifically clear why they are doing this, but pigs welcome each other nose to nose, so it seems to be a social gesture. They make choices of who they sleep next to and with who they spend their days. Kim Sturla, who works in a reserve in North California says, they show many social behaviors. They are often exceptionally friendly to pigs they arrived within the reserve. The piglets play with each other and show a lot of endurance with newly arrived piglets. Especially for older pigs, it can be harder to be accepted by the other grown-up pigs.

Even that pigs are omnivores; they have preferences. If presented a mango and broccoli, they choose the Mango. They prefer sweet fruits over vegetables. But if they had their favorite dish for a day, the next day they tend to pull it to the side if presented again and eat something else. This shows that they like variety. In nature, pigs eat 90% vegetarian foods like fruits, roots, and tubers. A study in Indonesia showed that they eat more than 50 different varieties of food (Masson 2018).

Males use their fang for defense and to fight with other males about females or echelon. Pigs with long and small faces, little teeth and without humps, like the domestic pig and the feral pig, fight lateral (shoulder against shoulder) (Burnie 2017).

Pigs need around 13 to 16 hours sleep a day (Fuessler 2012) and have the ability to dream (Masson 2018). Like humans, they have a more extended sleeping period in once and shorter separated naps. Depending on climate and temperatures pigs are either day or night active non-human animals. Most species sleep on determined places in dense vegetation. The feral pig builds a nest and pads it with a plant, other species sleep on the bare ground. There are also species who use the burrow of other non-human animals, or they are building their holes. The relatively high need to sleep comes from the high activity rate when pigs are awake. They are always moving and are using a lot of strength and endurance while they search for the intake of food. Even when they are full, they keep on looking for feeding points, places which are suitable for wallowing and safe resting places. Continuously they roam highly concentrated through their territory, orientating and recognizing every change. Like humans, pigs have a unique character and want to examine their surroundings (Mecklenburg 2011).

Feral Pigs (Sus scrofa) and Domestic Pigs (Sus scrofa domestica)

The feral pig is the ancestor of the domestic pig. It is one of the widely spread land mammals. It lives in different habitats in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. His head and snout are tapered forwards, so it is easier to butt through the undergrowth. It eats nearly everything, can run fast and swims very well (Lytle & Meyer 2010). Pigs are fast eaters. Domestic pigs eat 1 kg in around five minutes (Fuessler 2012). Males live alone, only while breeding season they live with a female and fight for a harem. Females take good care of their offspring and form groups of sometimes more than twenty non-human animals. The gestation period is 16 to 17 weeks (Lytle & Meyer 2010). Feral pigs get four to six offspring, and the mothers do not often leave them for the first to two weeks (Burnie 2017). Domestic pigs get seven to twelve offspring, sometimes even up to 18. After birth, the offspring are fed with milk (suckled) which is produced and dispensed by mammary glands (Mammae) (Lytle & Meyer 2010). The offspring hide in hollows of grass, leaves, and moss. Step by step the mother starts to show them how to search for food. With seven months the offspring is independent (Burnie 2017). ​

Humans and Pigs

Pigs belong to the oldest domesticated animal species. In the east of Turkey, they were used for the production of flesh for 9.000 years before our calendar. In Europe while the Roman empire, pig farming was already widely spread. One thousand nine hundred fifty-eight the first domesticated pigs were brought to North America by Hernando de Soto, a Spanish colonizer. The annual pig meat consumption in Germany is 39 kg per head (Fuessler 2012). The in Vietnam breed species post-belly pig was first imported to Europe in 1958 and exhibited in the zoo of Berlin. This species stays relatively small and is outside of Asia not only a farm animal. Some people have them as companion animals (Lytle & Meyer 2010).​

Cognition

An important topic whenever it comes to the question if non-human animals should be ethically considered is if they have consciousness.

It is known that pigs are highly intelligent. Sandra Duepjan, who works at Leibniz-Institute for farm animals in Dummerstorf (Germany) says: ‘We assume that pigs can learn more commands than dogs.’ She works with pigs for many years. ‘With their teeth and snout, they research everything you give to them. They are very curious and determined.‘

A scientist from the Leibniz-Institute worked together with a scientist from the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, to research the pig’s ability to learn. They taught piglets in a stable in Lower Saxony (Germany) trisyllabic names like Brundhilde, Griselda and Edelgard. In these classes were never more than ten piglets. When the pigs were grown up, they needed this knowledge during the feeding procedure. With loudspeakers, the 40 waiting pigs were individually invoked. Only the pig who was invoked got food at the automatic feeder. The pigs were identified with a chip in their ear. At the beginning there was confusion, and when the loudspeaker started, many pigs ran to the through. But then they started to understand the system. ‘It was fascinating that the pigs who were not invoked, stayed relaxed lied down. Even their regular heart rate showed no reaction’, said Duepjan. When their name evoked, they ran to the trough, sometimes with up to 50 km/h.

At the end of the nineties, a farmer in Denmark let his pigs control the ventilation and temperature in the stable with a joystick (Fuessler 2012).

When it comes to consciousness, an important point is the ability of self-recognition. 2009 a study by Broom, Sena, and Moynihan was published in Animal Behaviour. They tested if pigs can understand the reflections of a mirror. They placed young pigs in a pen with a mirror and observed, that the pigs made movements while looking at their image in the mirror. After 5 hours the scientist placed a familiar food bowl behind a solid barrier. The food bowl was only viewable in the mirrors. ‘Seven out of eight pigs found the food bowl in a mean of 23 s by going away from the mirror and around the barrier… Each pig must have observed features of its surroundings, remembered these and its actions, deduced relationships among observed and remembered features and acted accordingly.’

Lulu, a 100 kg pig, got a medal of honor because she saved the life of her owner. The woman Lulu lives with started to feel unwell, which led to Lulu getting nervous. She forced herself through a flap in the door, which was made for a 10 kg dog. Then she lay down in the middle of the street to stop a car. She led the driver into the house, where Lulu’s owner was found with a heart attack. She was brought to the hospital and survived (Masson 1994). With this behavior, Lulu risked her own life to help somebody else. Besides this altruistic behavior, her act also shows that she was able to see herself in a context of complex happenings and was able to empathize into other beings. The ability to make plans and think about the future is necessary to behave this way.

Conclusion

With all the information given above, we can see that pigs are intelligent, social and very mobile. The way they are treated in factory farming steals them nearly all the possibilities to act natural. Scully, the author of Dominion, observed pigs in these factory farms: ’The pregnant sow who searched for straw, which was not present, to build a nest, which she will never have, for another litter of piglets, which she will never raise.’ This sentence shows the natural behavior of pigs and the impossibility to live out any of these. If you look at children who are playing with a toy farm, you will recognize that most of the children put the non-human animals outside of the stable so that they can graze and play. Children seem to have a better understanding of nature and morality than agronomists. Scully argues further: ‘How can a human-being sleep at night when he knows, that under his care, in a strawless stable all these living creatures are, who will never be outside, unless to die; who are barely capable to turn around or to lye down; who are horrified every time the door opens and who fight and bite each other while they slowly are turning crazy?’ (Scully 2003). The behavioral disorders which are mentioned here at the end, are the reason pigs get their teeth and tails cut. These procedures are, same as the castration, done without anesthesia and are as painful as they would be for humans. The tails get cut because pigs tend to cannibalism when they develop behavioral disorders, out of their unnatural living conditions (Krogmann 2016).

The Tamworth breed is one of the oldest domestic pig breeds. In England in 1998 two Tamworth pigs (known as the Tamworth Two) escaped from a truck on their way to the slaughterhouse. They dig a corridor under a fence, swam through the Ingleburn River, hid in the thicket and could not be elicited. The flight was followed by many people and even the butcher Jeremy Newman felt sympathy with the two pigs: ‘Sentiment is not possible in this business, but I wish the two good luck. I think they were smarter than us and they showed a lot of initiative during their flight. When they saw me, they ran away as fast as they could.’ (Bruxelles 1998). There were a few hundred offers to give these pigs a save home for the rest of their lives and they ended up in reserve (Masson 2018). It is interesting that so many people felt with these pigs; did not want them to die. Why is it, that we do not feel the same way about all the pigs who are not so lucky to be able to escape?

Word Count: 2532 words

References

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