Disturbing: Michigan Pig Farm Raids

[Slim]

Will they come to each of our houses and force us to shoot every animal we own?

Not if your animal isn't what you shoot

[AndrewGeibel]

Not if your animal isn't what you shoot

I see what you did there. Lol.

[Highline Reptiles South]

Horses, dogs, cats, and most household pets are invasive and "not naturally occurring" species... Will they come to each of our houses and force us to shoot every animal we own?

Sadly, I believe the answer is, given enough time, undoubtedly yes.

I'm pretty sure we fought a revolution in response to an abusive and tyrannous government similar to ours.

Further, ALL pigs will change their appearance if they are "free range" and not kept up in small pens. That pink little wilbur will look a lot like a russian boar if allowed to range freely either on a farm or in the wild. We have 100s of thousands of them wild here in GA and I have not heard of a single attack.

[Mike41793]

Horses, dogs, cats, and most household pets are invasive and "not naturally occurring" species... Will they come to each of our houses and force us to shoot every animal we own?

If someone comes to my house with a gun and tells me to shoot my animals i can assure you the clip will be unloaded quickly, but not into any of my animals. My stepdad also conveniently has a rather large sword collection

[MasonC2K]

This is outrageous. If this is true why isn't it in the national media yet? This is homegrown terrorism by defintion. Who needs radical Islamists when all you need is a few power hungry beaurocrats.

[wolfy-hound]

It's not in the media, because HSUS has the media in their back pocket. How much did you hear about PETA being in court trying to justify their killing of animals in parking lots that they'd JUST taken to "find good homes for" and then dumping the dead pets in random dumpsters? How much did you see in he media when HSUS was being sued by the STATE of Lousisana for taking in millions of dollars for Katrina dogs, and not taking care of any of the pets?

The farms in the article are hunt clubs that breed "boar" for hunts. But the reasoning is that those particular pigs may get loose and breed... which is patently ridiculous, since feral pigs are all over the whole country already. One person in the comments even claimed that the pigs were brought from other feral populations and were a risk for a type of rabies!! It's a USDA operation, therfore all testing, all vaccines, all care and treatment is covered by FEDERAL law and oversight.

It's step one in the animal rights agenda. Get a few spots that most people won't care about "Hey, it's just those canned hunt people! Who cares!", then use the same laws on a few more... and a few more... until they show up at your door with a legal paper saying "Hey, we're here to arrest you for owning that lab puppy, invasive species, feral dogs, we're going to shoot it and arrest you."

Until that moment, most of the people in the country won't care, won't believe and won't do a single thing to help any of us.

[Rawbbeh]

This reminds me of that scene from Equilibrium where they shoot all the "Sense offenders" for having pet dogs...and then exterminate the dogs...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNF4UjQ2Vlw

[sissysnakes]

Further, ALL pigs will change their appearance if they are "free range" and not kept up in small pens. That pink little wilbur will look a lot like a russian boar if allowed to range freely either on a farm or in the wild. We have 100s of thousands of them wild here in GA and I have not heard of a single attack.

Firstly they are not targeting Wilbur.. Yorks, landrace, big whites.. those are all commercial animals. And if you let one of those thing out into the wild it would not turn into a Russian boar... it would stay pink and naked.

Secondly they are going after heritage breeds. Smaller, hairier hogs like Arapawas, Razorbaclks or Ossabaws. These pigs were originally bred to be able to fend for themselves. Farmers would generally set them free then collect them later.

I think it is awful that they are targeting these small farmers.. especially when they are leaving the big commercial farms alone...

[wolfy-hound]

Actually Sissysnakes, it's kind of been proven that released/escaped commercial pigs will indeed become hairy, leaner, the snouts get longer over a period of months. "Domestic" pigs will go feral in appearance in a amazingly short period of time, I believe unlike most other animals.

But the "heirloom" breeds is also not quite right, since the breeds are mostly a cross between russian boar and other more common breeds, bred to look more wild.

It doesn't matter WHAT breed of pig they had. It's their legal livelihood, USDA and all. The authorities are stretching a vaguely defined term "non-indigenous" and using that to target people that they think they can get away with bullying out of business.

The government may pay "compensation" for the dead pigs, but they have destroyed the entire business, and you can't suddenly start a new business and gain income after they've taken every aspect of his income away.

[WingedWolfPsion]

I actually just thought of a solution for these farmers, at least a very temporary one. If they dock ears and tails, and shave the animals, the animals will conform...lol.

It's true, though--any breed of pig will change dramatically in appearance once it goes feral. Why is not fully understood, but a feral pig becomes hairy, dark, and its facial structure changes--it goes from a dished face, to a flat face like a wild boar has. These changes occur in only one generation--that nice, white, hairless pig will give birth to little hairy beasts with flat faces, if it's living in the wild. In fact, it won't stay hairless--it WILL grow thick hair, once it is living wild. She'll never look entirely like a feral hog--but her offspring will.