NaBloPoMo Month - "Pig Cruelty in Okfuskee County"

NaBloPoMo Month - "Pig Cruelty in Okfuskee County"
Entry #20 - 11/20/2013

Tonight I was doing what I normally do after I come home from work...let Cabot out to go potty...find something to eat...scroll through Facebook when I came across a news story that was posted by NewsChannel 4 out of Oklahoma City - Pig Cruelty Video Prompts Company to Drop Ties...

 

I was warned at the beginning of the report that the video was graphic and upon watching...in utter disgust and horror I have to agree.

 

The animal group Mercy For Animals began video taping West Coast Farms, which is near Henryetta in September and what they caught on film is down right disturbing, disgust and just cruel. Employees of the farm can be seen spiking piglets like footballs, cutting tails off pigs, ripping out productive organs, eyes being gouged and a bowling ball being thrown at the pigs! Sitting here just typing the words brings tears to my eyes.

 

I grew up in rural Oklahoma...on four acres and I still remember the very first time that I told Mamma I wanted a pig! I didn't think she was ever going to stop laughing and to this day she loves to tell the story of when the pig got lose in the pasture and my friend Hannah and I had to chase it all over! My first pig was a black Hampshire that was given to me by Hannah's parents...for to have an animal that I was going to raise...that I was going to work with and show was so far out of my comfort zone...to think back on the situation now it's quite comical. But nevertheless I took that pig and I raised it...worked with and showed it. To be honest looking back on it almost fourteen years it was one of the best experiences of my life. It breaks my heart to see people doing to animals what those assholes in the video are doing.

 

It serves no purpose to be cruel to something or someone who is unable to defend themselves. What joy or gratification can one get from doing what these creeps have done!? It makes me so mad. And I think what makes it even worse is that it was done in the backyard of where I grew up in Henryetta!

 

"Pigs are every bit as capable of suffering and feeling pain as our beloved dogs and cats at home and they deserve the same type of protection from needless cruelty and violence," Matt Rice Director of Investigations. And I could not agree more! The Okfuskee County District Attorney has been requested by Mercy for Animals to prosecute this case and I say that the DA should without hesitation because this time of violence should not be tolerated and it should not go unpunished.

 

Tyson Foods told NBC News that they are ending their contract with West Coast Farm after learning of the video and I applaud Tyson Foods for doing so. When I see such violence against animals, especially pigs, I think back to the days of early morning feedings, livestock shows and trips in the Ag truck from a time of days gone by...it helps to remember the fun times when trying to understand all of the bad!

 

My first pig that I ever had - his name was Buzz. Circa 2000

 

 

Me at the Muskogee County Livestock Show - Circa September 2000 

 

Until Next Time...Ciao Bella...