Downed Pigs Deserve Better

Gene Baur is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change.

Across the U.S., millions of pigs and other animals too sick to stand (commonly referred to as "downed animals") suffer terribly at farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses. They are left for hours or days without receiving proper veterinary care, and they are often dragged with chains or pushed with forklifts. Farm Sanctuary has worked to document and end the abuses of downed animals since 1986, and we’re making progress. Last year, the Obama administration tightened up federal regulations to prevent downed cattle from being slaughtered and used for human food. But, this policy needs to be expanded and applied to pigs and other animals who continue to suffer unnecessarily.

I’ve personally witnessed hundreds of downers callously discarded by the factory farming industry. I videotaped the sow pictured above who, worn out after years of being confined in a 2-foot-wide metal crate, was unable to walk. She was left to suffer in the alleyway at a factory farm amid rows of gestation crates.

I’ve photographed countless downed (and deceased) pigs like the above in stockyard and slaughterhouse holding pens, and learned early on through these investigations just how rampant and horrific this abuse really is. Farm Sanctuary has exposed such cruelty time and again and a CNN news report citing a Humane Society of the United States investigation on the topic has recently reminded Americans that there is no reason or excuse to allow this abuse to continue.

Like all animals, farm animals deserve to be treated with respect. Please join Farm Sanctuary and sign our petition to President Obama and his administration calling for an end to the abuse of all downed animals. It is critical that we continue to demonstrate widespread public concern about this issue. Thank you!