Force feeding pigs unethical and unlawful

Li Zuming, a worker of a pig farm in Luan, East China's Anhui province cries over the precarious fate of 6,000 pigs, who have been neck-deep in water for nearly 20 hours due to heavy flooding that has made it impossible to move them to a safe place. [Photo/IC]

Terrible Shrieks?have been heard coming from a station in Xiangtan county in Cental China's Hunan province. The sounds of distress are from pigs, which are being force fed slurry at the transfer station to gain an extra 10 kilograms in weight before being sold. Cnhubei.com commented on Wednesday:

It used to be that water was forced into pigs so they would gain weight. However, no matter whether the pigs are forced to swallow water or slurry, they are being tortured for money. It is both cruel and against the law to force feed pigs anything.

According to the Measures for the Implementation of the Regulation on Pig Slaughtering amended and adopted by China's Cabinet last year, no individual or unit is allowed to force any substance into a pig.

Obviously, these pig dealers have lost their conscience since they cannot tell right from wrong and their only thought is how to make more money. They do not care about how they treat the animals and disregard the law, and in their unscrupulous pursuit of profit they may also put the health of consumers at risk.

Pork is a staple in people's food baskets. To strengthen management of the pork industry, the slaughtering of pigs should be carefully supervised. Greater efforts are also urgently needed to make pig dealing an honest business.

Therefore, this excessive profiteering should not go without penalties. The law should be fully observed in punishing these dealers in order to stop this unhealthy trend.