Numerous Iowans ask: Will State Fair take action on pig abuse that was caught on video?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, an animal rights group, issued a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for abusing the pig.
Lee RoodA Des Moines man’s ejection from the Iowa State Fair for life after he confronted the fair's top manager over a boy beating a pig with a show stick triggered strong reaction Thursday from readers and animal rights advocates.
Numerous readers wrote Watchdog, asking if fair officials planned to take action against the boy whom Wheaten Mather videotaped on the fair's last day. In the video, the boy can be seen hitting the pig in the face with the show stick, or hog whip, and the pig's face is injured.
“Are fair officials or the animal care committee going to follow their own rules and prohibit this youth from showing at future fairs?” one veteran fairgoer wrote. “It is evident in the video that this pig was, and had been, abused by the lashes on its face.”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, the largest animal rights organization in the world, issued a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible.
“It is shameful that the Iowa State Fair sanctioned the good Samaritan who spoke out against whipping a crying pig and didn’t take allegations of animal abuse seriously,” the organization said in a statement. “PETA urges everyone who’s rightly horrified by this video to go vegan — and to stay away from 4-H and FFA programs, which harden kids’ hearts and stamp out their natural compassion for animals.”
One woman wrote Watchdog, asking how she could buy the pig out of its life “in hell.”
Fair marketing director Mindy Williamson said Wednesday that Mather, 40, of Des Moines, was combative and threatening when he approached fair CEO Gary Slater and herself about the video he recorded the previous Friday.
Mather and two friends accompanying him Aug. 18 on the fair's last day were ejected by fair police for life, but none was charged with a crime.
Williamson said Thursday that fair officials are reviewing what happened related to the boy's conduct and that review is not yet complete.
"It involves reaching out to the exhibitor and his family, reviewing the FFA code of conduct and most importantly checking on the care and health of the pig," she said in a statement.
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However, Williamson said, the fair will heed something that came up in the discussion with Mather: placing signs in barns with a number to call if attendees see something that appears abusive.
She said the signs would resemble "our see something/say something protocol on the rest of the grounds, but specific to livestock. We are also going to post our Animal Care Committee purpose on our website and in our barns."
Williamson said the care committee reviews formal complaints, but the fair has never banned anyone from competition for animal abuse "because the instances have been reported immediately and resolved at that time."
Rules currently posted on the fairgrounds say anyone can be refused entry or removed from the fairgrounds for noncompliance of fair rules, including all state and local ordinances.
On Thursday, Mather asked Watchdog to request any fair video or body camera footage from fair police to better show his interaction with Slater and Williamson on Aug. 18. Watchdog did request footage, but no cameras were in that area, Williamson said.
Fair officials have not commented on any actions taken by fair employees or volunteers during the Aug. 9 incident.
But Mike Telford, executive director of Iowa Farm Animal Care, a nonprofit aiming to assure all farm animals receive proper care, said his organization did look into the matter, contacted fair staff and urged Iowans to consider what happened after Mather took video of the boy trying to load the pig onto a low trailer.
He says he was told livestock control officers got involved as the boy, his parent and another relative were seen trying to load the pig onto the trailer.
Livestock control, he said, encouraged the family to put the sow back into her pen for 10 minutes and then assisted the family "without incident" in loading the animal with several loading boards, which are supposed to be used when loading pigs onto trailers.
"The kid was making a mistake using a show stick used to guide a pig in the ring. It's meant for tapping, not striking," Telford said. "When livestock control saw him using it, they intervened. But that was after Mr. Mather already took the video."
Telford said thousands of kids involved in 4-H and FFA are required to receive certification in the quality care of animals before they are allowed to compete, which includes an extensive section on animal handling. However, "for many it's their first show," and livestock control staff are at the fairgrounds "to make sure they are doing things the right way."
"No, it was not the proper use of a show stick," he said. "I'm not defending the kid. But it was probably the first time he showed an animal. Show me a kid who hasn't made a mistake."
When asked why fair officials did not try to file charges against Mather if he was harassing them, Williamson said: "We give people the benefit of the doubt and try to resolve the situation without criminal charges if possible. He was escorted to the gate, not detained, not searched and asked to leave."
She said fair officials are checking on the sow involved and trying to schedule a visit with a veterinarian.
How are pigs properly handled, and do they feel pain?
Readers also questioned Thursday how much pigs feel pain and the proper handling of pigs. Here are some answers:
Handling a pig: In competition, youths are encouraged to use their show sticks to guide pigs — but only on the side of their body from their shoulder to their flank.
No one handling a pig should hit them on their butt, hocks or head to get them to move.
Pigs and pain: Much research exists showing pigs are highly intelligent animals that feel pain similar to humans, and that pigs squeal when they sense pain.
One 2016 study published in Frontiers of Veterinary Science named inept handling as one way hogs can be injured. The researchers said pigs “vocalize when painful areas are palpated but resent handling and may vocalize regardless of pain.”
Pain and production: Proper handling of swine is not only important to animal welfare; it affects production and a producer's bottom line.
Research has shown pain inhibits reproductive performance, and the meat of pigs who are stressed is damaged by that stress.
According to the Pork Information Gateway, created for producers in the U.S. pork industry, handling is stressful to all pigs under the best of conditions.
“An animal handler’s primary objective is to minimize the animals’ level of fear and therefore their negative stress by maximizing positive interactions while encouraging the animal to move to the target location,” the guide says.
Loading a pig is a stressor for the animal, which can be made worse when an animal is isolated.
The National Pork Board years ago started a voluntary program for producers to evaluate and improve the welfare of hogs in production in the U.S.
The board encourages people to report “willful acts of abuse or neglect” on livestock farms, calling them unacceptable.
Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@dmreg.com or 515-284-8549. Follow her on Twitter at @leerood and on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog. Our subscribers make the Reader's Watchdog possible.