Pigs often get terrified when they are transported onto trucks bound for the slaughterhouse. However, it is not just in slaughterhouses and factory farms that these pigs suffer horribly. Pigs raised and killed by other companies like Smithfield also go through the same ordeal. Workers often use electric prods to prod them in their rectums or beat them on their sensitive backs and noses during the transportation of pigs onto trucks for the slaughterhouse.
Pigs suffer from inhaling exhaust from diesel and ammonia fumes, which are forced upon them in extreme temperatures. The pigs struggle to get air as their guts actually pop out like little softballs. They are usually not given water or food and are crammed into air-wheelers that can carry up to 18 pigs.
Federal laws protecting animals on their journey to the slaughterhouse are virtually non-existent, and the transportation process remains largely unregulated within the factory-farming sector, where such incidents are frequently observed. Trucks carrying pigs were engaged in a minimum of six mishaps in southeastern Virginia between March 2004 and 2008.
Ensure to check out our favorite mock-pork products, all of which are cholesterol-free and cruelty-free! Today, order our “Vegetarian Starter Kit” and experience the deliciousness of vegetarianism. By adopting a vegetarian diet, not only can you improve your own health, but you can also save the lives of approximately 200 animals each year. Help put an end to this cruelty by transitioning to a vegetarian lifestyle.
Further Information on Smithfield’s Truck Collisions
September 2008
Other pigs were trapped in the wreckage for hours. This included employees of Murphy-Brown, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc. The workers who responded to the accident were either killed at the site or died from their injuries. Approximately 65 pigs were killed by the impact. On a sunny day in Suffolk, Virginia, a transport truck carrying almost 200 live pigs to a slaughterhouse overturned on a straight road.
The workers should never use tools to hit and slap animals, especially not in the face. Pigs were terrified as their ears were yanked and they were hit. The surviving pigs were removed from the scene, but the workers did not consider the trauma caused by the accident.
May 2006
The driver was instructed to make a U-turn as the truck reached after the closure of the slaughter area for the day. As it arrived after the closure of the slaughter area for the day, the truck allegedly experienced a mechanical failure while on its way to a slaughterhouse. In Suffolk, Virginia, a transportation truck veered off the road and overturned, trapping nearly 200 pigs on top of one another. Numerous pigs perished due to suffocation and emitted distress calls for over three and a half hours under the scorching sun.
She was unable to move her stand, but workers tried to push her ramp down and lift her up by kicking and lifting her legs back. As her peers struggled to get off the truck, she was trampled and sat on the ramp for more than 11 minutes, unable to move. The workers prodded, kicked, pushed, and pulled the terrified pigs down a slippery ramp and used the “jaws of life” to pry open the top of the truck.
Those remaining in the temporary enclosure were forcibly removed, subjected to physical abuse in order to transfer them onto another vehicle, five hours following the collision. The squeals of the swine persisted as they were transported away in the truck, and none of them were observed receiving any form of inspection from a representative of the company or a veterinarian. The pigs located on the lower level of the truck, which still contained numerous distressed and wounded pigs, were transported to a nearby industrialized farm once the truck was uprighted. In an effort to ensure that injured animals received medical attention and were euthanized to end their suffering, members of PETA pleaded with officials for an extended period of time, but their efforts were in vain, having been alerted to the accident by concerned individuals passing by.
October 2005
Animals that are suffering immense pain are mistakenly shot, causing them a great deal of harm. Some workers at Smithfield killed and injured pigs using a captive bolt gun, which is a tool that propels a metal shaft into the animals’ brains. Many pigs were forcibly thrown from the truck and killed when the transport truck tipped over on a straight road in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.
Two transportation trucks loaded 111 individuals who survived onto while employees of Smithfield loaded other swine laying in the field for hours, incapable of relocating. Approximately 45 minutes later, concealing the view of the public from the activities occurring behind the truck: Employees employed a front-end loader to transfer the corpses of 74 swine (including a few that were not verified deceased) into a garbage truck, Smithfield representatives neglected the 49 swine who were loaded onto the second truck to endure the scorching sunlight.
The Virginia state veterinarian’s office, contacted by PETA, declined to arrive at the scene to provide oversight or carry out a humane euthanasia of the distressed pigs. In addition, they also declined to acknowledge our request. A Smithfield official also declined to address the situation, but a veterinarian specializing in large animals was willing to euthanize the animals. This would have alleviated their suffering, but PETA field officers present at the accident site pleaded for authorization to cover the expenses.
September 2004
A member of PETA saw staff members struggling to move on top of their motionless peers inside the truck, where bleeding pigs were seen. The roof of the overturned truck bulged as the pigs inside struggled and kicked. Inside the truck, trapped animals could be heard squealing, even from more than 100 yards away. Many of these animals couldn’t walk or stand, and their backsides or noses were bleeding. Seventeen pigs were on the ground outside the vehicle, while approximately 200 pigs were being transported in the truck to Smithfield Foods slaughterhouse.
She lay on the ground for 36 minutes, suffering and unable to move. As the other pigs pushed past her, she was trampled and knocked down repeatedly. She tried to stand up but couldn’t. The employees then started pushing the live pigs onto a ramp, leading them to the bottom of another truck for transport. After the injured pigs languished, the rear door of the truck was removed by Smithfield’s supplier’s employees, allowing them to push the live pigs onto the truck for almost four hours.
At the abattoir, the remaining swine, numerous with wounds, were transported for termination. PETA approximates that over 60 creatures perished in the accident. A nearby veterinary called to the location by a conscientious law enforcement officer managed to humanely put down 10 of the creatures.
March 2004
As Smithfield employees endeavored to gather up additional pigs, wounded pigs remained in the field for several hours, with the majority unable to relocate. All of them were disoriented and frightened, with a few sustaining fractures in their legs or ribs, and numerous survivors enduring severe injuries. A few perished instantly upon impact, and the majority of the pigs were forcefully ejected from the truck and landed in a neighboring field subsequent to the overturning of a Smithfield Foods transportation vehicle carrying 180 pigs on Virginia Route 10 in Smithfield, Virginia.
After unsuccessful attempts, the workers used a front-end loader to shovel the dead bodies of animals into piles at the back of another truck. Finally, before they died, the animals screamed each time the workers tried to shoot them with a captive gun-bolt. After more than two hours of chasing down the other animals, the employees of Smithfield went to work, killing the injured pigs and other animals.
Mercy kill the animals without causing any pain, Smithfield declined to permit PETA field officers. Upon receiving assistance, the Virginia state veterinarian, who was contacted by PETA, also declined to arrive at the location.