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Give Pigs a Chance
Once upon a town, there was a little white haired lady who wanted
nothing more than to protect a few little pigs. She summoned up
her courage and presented herself before the Commissioners one Monday
evening with a simple request, “Respect pigs.” “What!,
without an ordinance?” they cried ensemble. “We have
no ordinance for such things and in our time of national crisis,
this could be dangerous.” So the Cratchets were soon hard
at work crafting an ordinance no ACLU member could love: $25.00
for a permit and 10 days to wait before “Respect Pigs”
could be marched before the offending revelers at the Greased Pig
Race at Farm/City Day in Jackson Park.
Needless to say, the local editor along with soap box regulars starving
for an hors d’oeuvre de prey jumped with glee. Soon, all manner
of offended citizens were waving the First Amendment. In less than
three minutes on a gray Friday evening, the hapless, red faced Commissioners
rescinded their foolish jump into the frying pan. Respect pigs.
Sure there is humor to this whole affair, but this event has also
afforded an opportunity for personal reflection. I had grown accustomed
to several personal certainties where animal rights were concerned--cock
fights, fox hunts and bull fights were out while pig races, frog
jumps and circus acts were in. Yet, if I had lived only fifty years
ago, would I have accepted cock fights and dog fights as acceptable
human entertainment? Was I thinking or merely drifting, reflecting
the cultural values around me. As we grow older, hopefully we are
growing wiser.
So I sat on that cold windy hill overlooking the arena to decide
for myself whether or not greased pig chases were really just harmless
fun for children of all ages. What I witnessed was a contest between
unequals. If the pig was having fun, you sure couldn’t tell
it. Watching the “fun” I realized for the first time
that the grease is really a disadvantage for the pig, not the human
missiles. Because those human hands couldn’t get a solid grasp,
they pulled harder and held on longer while the pig shrieked and
squealed. Unless my high school biology fails me, pigs have nerves,
muscles, joints, and a heart which have our same capacity to feel
pain and collapse from exertion. Fear is common to us both. It is
hard for me to imagine that there have not been numerous piglet
legs separated from numerous ball joints.
Earlier I had the opportunity to talk with Stewart David and his
wife Terri who founded Carolina Animal Action in Asheville. Stewart
David was there along with Carol Kauppert (the white haired lady)
and others to protest the greased pig event. Mr. David is a Certified
Public Accountant with a BS in Social Sciences and Terri Holds a
bachelor’s in psychology and a masters in business. They are
not exactly your left wing animal hugger stereotype. As David says,
“As you can see from our education and from meeting us, we
are middle class Norman Rockwell Americans except in regard to our
views regarding animals…We simply promote compassion towards
animals.”
It was a very uncompassionate event that helped cement their decision
to remain firmly fixed to animal rights advocacy. Terri explains,
“Ten years ago, we went to Hegins, Pa. to help stop a pigeon
shoot that took place on Labor Day. They would release thousands
of pigeons one at a time and then encourage children and adults
to shoot them out of the air. Pigeons dead, wounded and bleeding
fell everywhere and revelers would wring the necks of those who
were still writhing. Young children called “trapper boys”
charged the field collecting wounded birds and killed them by stomping
on them, ripping off their heads, banging them against barrels,
or throwing them into barrels to suffocate. Vets who had volunteered
their time to help would scurry across the field trying to save
all they could. It was a sorry sight. Also distressful was the fact
that unsympathetic police were slow to respond to our safety as
protestors.” This “fun” event was finally discontinued
last year after 65 years due to the persistence and courage of animal
rights advocates like the Davids.
Now, the question I have to ask is this, “If you were to knock
on all the doors in Hegins today, how many people would admit that
they had taken part in this event?” Not many I would believe.
The country has changed, they have changed and we all continue to
change. A self satisfied attitude is never acceptable to anyone
or any community who is striving towards an ever higher moral ledge.
As intelligent compassionate beings, humans can invent plenty of
ways to have fun without hurting or exploiting other creatures.
It’s time to move pig races to the out box.
To my readers: If you ever wonder if I get
comments on these columns, I do occasionally. What are your thoughts
on the matter?
Email
Eva
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opinions stated in this page are those of Ms. Eva Ritchey and do
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