America now has more dogs than children. We indulge dogs and abuse hogs. Someone mistreats a dog and we call 911. But if a company tortures millions of hogs as a business model, we dine on its products, invest in its shares and honor its executives. People are horrified by the idea of eating dogs, but pigs are just as intelligent and make fine companions too. When meatpacking plants closed during the pandemic, 240,000 hogs were euthanized by raising temperatures to 130 degrees. 31 states have laws making it illegal to leave a dog in a hot car but it’s no problem to torture and kill pigs that way. Female pigs often spend their adult lives confined to coffin-sized pens so narrow that they cannot turn around. They don’t go outside, touch soil, see the sky or exercise. Excerpts from a New York Times opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof.
