pig farms

It tells us, "Animex is the Polish subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, the largest hog producer and pork processor in the United States, but residents of this small village in western Poland had no clue about what they were in for until a mountain of pig manure began growing about 100 yards from the local elementary school. The youngsters gagged and their parents fumed, but it appears that Smithfield's industrial-scale "piglet nursery" is here to stay."

We read that Smithfield plans to make Poland the Iowa of Europe, and "That is not necessarily good news for Poland. Smithfield has a less than sterling environmental record. In 1997 it was fined $12.6 million for thousands of violations in Virginia. Its slaughterhouse operations in North Carolina have caused huge fish kills in local rivers. The state recently declared a moratorium on new hog factories."

On living near pig farms, article tells us:

"Most people do not want a hog factory in their neighborhood because it generates tons of manure filled with harmful chemicals. One way of disposing of the manure is to mix it with straw and silo it, and then spread it on fields. Another is to let the liquid slurry accumulate in toxic lagoons. Either way, it smells awful.

"In Wieckowice, where the pig farm and the village of 700 sit cheek by jowl, Animex decided to pile the manure close to the elementary school. That caused some children to faint or vomit. After residents raised a stink about the stench, Animex moved the manure mountain to the far end of its property, about a mile from a pristine lake that is part of a nature reserve. Children who swam in the lake developed eye infections. Other residents said the water smelled odd."

The story also broaches the issue of animal cruelty. We read, "Animal-rights organizations also have faulted Smithfield and others for their treatment of pigs."

And:
"Local critics have not been allowed inside the farm in Wieckowice, but activists--among them Robert Kennedy Jr., who as head of an environmental group Riverkeeper has mounted a crusade against Smithfield--have scaled the fences at other Smithfield facilities in Poland and were dismayed by what they found.

"'Five thousand squealing pigs were crammed into strawless compartments inside the recently opened pig factory near the town of Szczecinek in the northwestern Polish province Zachodnio-Pomorskie,' Kennedy wrote in a recent report for 'The Ecologist' an environmental newsletter.

"'Back outside, effluent from cement cesspits had over-flowed sending a small stream of brown, stinking liquid into the lake below, which had then frozen over. In a large plastic bin we found 20 dead pigs,' Kennedy wrote."

The full article offers more details about the Polish town's fight against Smithfield. You can read it on line at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi-0502070234feb07,1,1158820.story OR http://tinyurl.com/4ojxu

It presents a great opportunity for appreciative, pro-veggie, letters to the editor, that detail the way our society treats animals being raised for human food. You'll find great information and photos at http://www.FactoryFarming.com

The Chicago Tribune takes letters at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/site/chi-lettertotheeditor.customform
or ctc-TribLetter [at] Tribune.com

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)