Editorial: A bunch of 'hog' wash

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• Alleged inhumane act shuts down JBS Swift kill floor

“It’s like rain on your wedding day; It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid ...” — “Ironic,” Alanis Morissette

There are no lines in this mid-’90s hit about hogs at Worthington’s JBS Swift and Co. plant, but there well could be after Wednesday’s events.

“We did suspend our inspection services at the plant because of a humane handling violation,” a representative of the U.S. Department of Agriculture told the Daily Globe Wednesday. As a result of that suspension, Swift was shut down for about 14 hours.

As a result of Swift’s temporary closure, semi trucks loaded with hogs sat in parking lots near the pork processing plant, waiting for the facility to re-open. With temperatures in the 90-degree range accompanied by an uncomfortable level of humidity, the hogs were — well — sweating like pigs.

“This is more inhumane than whatever happened last night,” trucker Eric Sorenson told this newspaper. We agree with him — if it’s indeed true that one pig was handled inhumanely, forcing hundreds of others to, in effect, be tortured as a result — where’s the humanity in that?

Of course, the ultimate irony is that the pigs — by getting taken from the plant — undoubtedly lived a little longer than they would have otherwise. The inevitable, we suppose, was merely postponed. But even a horde of pigs destined for a kill floor should be treated with a little dignity, right?

The real “humane handling violation” occurred in Wednesday’s heat.

Tags: swift, opinion, hogs, usda