Post by: yesitsloaded on June 18, 2008, 09:06:47 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/06/18/midwest.flooding.pigs.ap/index.html
KINGSTON, Iowa (AP) -- Luck ran out for about a dozen pigs who escaped their flooded farm, swam through raging floodwaters and scrambled atop a sandbag levee in southeastern Iowa.
Officials said they killed the pigs over worries that they would weaken the levee.
Officials said they killed the pigs over worries that they would weaken the levee.
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Des Moines County sheriff's officials shot the pigs Tuesday, not long after they reached the levee several miles from the nearest hog farm.
Officials said they killed the pigs over worries that they would weaken the levee. Onlookers said the animals were having a difficult time trying to maneuver their way off the sandbags, and that they scurried back into the water as people approached.
"Basically you cannot have something with a hoof walk on plastic and not poke a hole in the plastic and let water into it," said LeRoy Lippert, chairman of the county emergency management commission. "Hogs, they have a tendency to root and that would not have been good either."
He said the state veterinarian and other agencies were consulted, and that 10 to 16 animals were killed.Video Watch pigs stranded on roof »
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"It happens every day. My gosh, that's what slaughterhouses do -- that's how we get bacon and pork chops," Lippert said. "It's just one of the casualties of the flooding situation."
The carcasses were left at the site and treated essentially as road kill, Lippert said. "You don't get them out of the mud and over the dike when you're worried about people and people's property," he said.
Louisa County Sheriff Curt Braby said he had heard about the incident and understood why the pigs needed to be killed.
"They did not want to take a chance on losing a city due to a few hogs," he said.
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Lippert noted that out of about 36,000 pigs in the Oakville area, officials estimated that only a thousand or so were left behind when the floodwaters came through.
"We trucked them as far as 200 miles away to other hog farms so that they would be taken care of," he said. All residents in the area had been evacuated, Jefferson said.
I don't really know if that was the "best" option. Better than dying in a flood because of pigs I guess.
Post by: LadySmith on June 18, 2008, 10:53:05 PM
And they won't even be eaten.
Post by: yesitsloaded on June 19, 2008, 04:38:01 AM
Post by: MicroBalrog on June 19, 2008, 04:40:02 AM
Quote
"It happens every day. My gosh, that's what slaughterhouses do -- that's how we get bacon and pork chops," Lippert said. "It's just one of the casualties of the flooding situation."
Truth.
Post by: Bigjake on June 19, 2008, 04:42:47 AM
How hard would it have been to just get the pigs off the levee?
Have you ever messed with swine personally? Ornery critters they are. Hogs that don't want to be moved tend to get their way, and a bunch of well meaning ammatures pry would've just sustained injury or hurt the levee.
Post by: Manedwolf on June 19, 2008, 04:46:02 AM
How hard would it have been to just get the pigs off the levee?
Panicky animal of low center of gravity coupled with extremely high mass? Yeahno.
Post by: Tallpine on June 19, 2008, 05:18:40 AM
Quote
"They did not want to take a chance on losing a city due to a few hogs," he said.
Learning from the New Orleans experience ....
Post by: yesitsloaded on June 19, 2008, 05:19:16 AM
Post by: Perd Hapley on June 19, 2008, 12:27:41 PM
Post by: Mabs2 on June 19, 2008, 01:44:38 PM
Post by: charby on June 19, 2008, 05:45:56 PM
Post by: yesitsloaded on June 19, 2008, 06:25:19 PM
Post by: Perd Hapley on June 20, 2008, 01:16:13 PM
That was near my hometown, shining moment for the Sheriff's department to make national news.
A shining moment for America. We're so screwed up now, we think it's newsworthy when cops dispatch nuisance animals in a disaster situation.
Post by: old school on June 20, 2008, 02:51:18 PM
Post by: Manedwolf on June 20, 2008, 02:54:00 PM
That was near my hometown, shining moment for the Sheriff's department to make national news.
A shining moment for America. We're so screwed up now, we think it's newsworthy when cops dispatch nuisance animals in a disaster situation.
24 hour news channels covering an hour's worth of news. It's that, or repeating celebrity scandals.
Post by: Perd Hapley on June 20, 2008, 07:33:11 PM
I grew up on a ranch and I can tell you that a full grown hog on the loose is more than a match for even large strong men. I watched my 6'-6" 250# father and my 6'-4" 240# uncle get their big burly butts dragged around the yard, bitten and kicked by a 350# hog that did not want to go back in his pen. This went on for about an hour and a half and ended in the loud report of a 44 mag. We were not planning to slaughter that weekend, but for him, we made an exception. Pork chops anyone?
That lower center of gravity can be very helpful. Or so said my judo teacher.
Post by: charby on June 20, 2008, 08:48:03 PM
I grew up on a ranch and I can tell you that a full grown hog on the loose is more than a match for even large strong men. I watched my 6'-6" 250# father and my 6'-4" 240# uncle get their big burly butts dragged around the yard, bitten and kicked by a 350# hog that did not want to go back in his pen. This went on for about an hour and a half and ended in the loud report of a 44 mag. We were not planning to slaughter that weekend, but for him, we made an exception. Pork chops anyone?
I used to herd escapee pasture pigs with a pitch fork, be surprised how you could control a "nasty" sow when you poke tines at her.
350#? that is like 100# over market weight WTF? Raising pigs for individual sale to city folks?
Post by: old school on June 21, 2008, 09:45:29 AM
350#? that is like 100# over market weight WTF? Raising pigs for individual sale to city folks?
Nope. Everything we raised for food was used at home. Pigs, chickens, eggs, milk and sometimes goats.
Post by: xavier fremboe on June 21, 2008, 11:31:44 AM
Quote
"It happens every day. My gosh, that's what slaughterhouses do -- that's how we get bacon and pork chops," Lippert said. "It's just one of the casualties of the flooding situation."
Homer: You mean you're not going to eat BACON? Lisa: No, Dad.
Homer: Or SAUSAGE or PORK CHOPS or HAM?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Oh, suuuuure, Lisa ... some magic animal.