Vegan Storyteller

It is much harder to advocate for farm animals compared to dogs and cats. People love companion animals. But what about farm animals? Are they less worthy?
rescued pig in barn

Dozer, rescued from a life of abuse by Blind Spot Sanctuary

Guest essay by Blind Spot Sanctuary

People love companion animals!  You are considered a hero when you save dogs and cats. People have respect for these rescuers and their work. There are rarely negative comments about a rescued dog or cat. Nobody would ever dream of posting, “This dog looks delicious, let’s grill it!”

 
People generally have a strong connection to companion animals and get upset when a dog or cat is hurt, thrown away, or killed. But what about farm animals? Are they less worthy?
 
We were met with some strong emotions recently when we shared the story of Dozer, a pig at the Blind Spot Sanctuary. Some people felt very strongly that farm animals, and pigs specifically, don’t have feelings or emotions. Someone even suggested, if given a chance, pigs will eat us. What do you say to this?

The emotions and sentient feelings of a pig

We are around these sentient beings every day. They absolutely feel joy and happiness. We see them when they are sad about the loss of their family and friends. As a matter of fact, many pigs we rescue go into a deep depression when they first arrive because they lost what they considered family and home, regardless of how poorly they were treated.

Pigs form such strong relationships and families, that they mourn the loss of a family member or a friend. They form incredibly strong bonds with us humans and their world is turned upside down when they lose us.
 
Pigs, just like humans, argue with each other and sort things out among themselves. Pigs also exhibit a form of empathy when witnessing the same emotion in another pig. We see firsthand that pigs are also incredibly intelligent, by far smarter than companion animals.
 
Pigs know when their life is in danger. Piglets often get so scared that they huddle together and stare at the wall when they are about to be slaughtered. Mama pigs search for their young and get depressed when they are taken away.
 
Every single pig we have saved has shown incredibly strong emotions. They love to cuddle with us, and they make very special grunts when they see us. They even run to us just like a puppy. They get depressed when they lose a herd mate and know when we are stressed.

If we don't advocate for farm animals, who will?

The horrors Dozer experienced before being rescued appeared acceptable to some people for some reason. Imagine if he had been a dog suffering such abuse.
 
By the way, let’s be clear about something. Not one pig ever attempted to eat us! As a matter of fact, many of our porcine friends are very picky eaters. Some would spit out celery, while others despise carrots.
 
If we don’t advocate for farm animals, who are some of the most abused animals on earth, then who will?
 
Blind Spot Sanctuary
  • rescues, rehabilitates and cares for farm animals who have been surrendered, abandoned or exploited
  • educates others and spreads seeds of compassion and kindness toward animals
  • connects people with animals to adopt or foster. 

Mitzi Ocean and McKenna Grace Fisher share their deepest  feelings on how they feel about the violent way pigs are gassed to death on factory farms. The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Mitzi makes a correlation between the Nazi Holocaust and the Zocolaust on factory farms.

dead pigs after being gassed

Read next the words of two women grieving over pigs gassed to death on factory farms

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