SPOTLIGHT - Pigs

As a former meat eater, all I knew about pigs was what they provided me as far food / products including pork and leather. The fact of the matter is, pigs are pretty incredible animals that are some of the most intelligent in the animal kingdom. The more you learn about animals, the less likely you are to view them as products and the more likely you are to appreciate their sentience. Let's take a look at some of the many things that make pigs pretty amazing!

PIGS ARE HIGHLY SOCIAL
Pigs, much like humans enjoy companionship. They are constantly communicating with one another and have over 20 unique squeals and noises used to communicate everything from happiness to hunger. They enjoy each others company so much so that they are prone to cuddling when they sleep. There are plenty of stories online involving pigs that have saved their owners lives because of the close bonds they share. 
Piglets run to their mother's voice and can recognize human given names after only 2 weeks. Piglets are also lulled to sleep by lullabyes sung by their mothers.

PIGS ARE EXTREMELY CLEAN
Most of us see pictures of muddy pigs and think that they're filthy animals but the fact is, they're extremely clean and neat animals. They always keep their bathroom areas far from their food and nesting areas. Piglets will leave the nest to find the bathroom only hours after being born. The term, "Sweating like a pig" is curious because pigs have very little sweat glands which is why they submerge in mud to keep cool giving the illusion that they're messy animals.

THEY'RE VERY MILD MANNERED
Pigs are very mild tempered animals rarely showing aggression. The only time a pig will become aggressive is in the case of a mother who believes her babies are in danger. Much like humans, mother pigs are extremely protective of their babies which makes factory farming especially difficult to hear about because they are shackled in sowing stations and unable to help leaving them emotionally and mentally stressed beyond comprehension.

PIGS ARE INTELLIGENT
It's easy for meat eaters to disregard farm animals because they are all perceived as being dumb and lacking the same integrity of house pets but this is not the case.
Pigs are some of the most intelligent animals on the planet, smarter than dogs, some varieties of primates, and are even considered to be smarter than 3 year old children.
Pigs can solve puzzles, play games, and be trained to understand a variety of commands and tricks. 

Pigs are so special and that's why I think it's important to learn about them and stop associating them with dumb, lackluster animals. They are so intelligent, clean, social, and beautiful which as I said is why factory farming is so disturbing. These poor animals are bred repeatedly, watch in horror as their babies are docked, have their teeth ground, and are abused in some cases. They are forced to endure repeated breeding which assuredly leaves them emotionally scarred and after they are of no use, they are killed. It's time to to appreciate the pig for all of it's splendor and stop looking at it as a product.

That's it for today's spotlight on pigs. Make sure to share this with your meat eating friends because you never know, maybe they'll learn something and reconsider that bacon on their plate!

HAPPY VEG

Some information taken from:
onekindplanet.org/animal/pig/
www.thepigsite.com/articles/5068/10-surprising-facts-about-pigs/