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Just as my letters asking people not to bring dogs to public events fell on deaf ears, this letter will also probably fall on deaf ears.
The Randolph County Fair is in progress and Saturday's schedule lists an event that is nothing more than animal cruelty. I am talking about the greased pig contest. The kids chasing the pig may be having fun and the people watching the event may be enjoying it but the pig is terrified, fearful for its life. How anybody can derive enjoyment from tormenting animals passes my understanding. It is just wrong.
I am asking the organizers of the fair to cancel this event and not have it at any future fairs. Before anybody thinks I am an animal rights activist, I am not. I do not belong to ASCPA or PETA or any other such organization, nor am I going to join them. I do provide some financial support to a local animal shelter.
I am also not a vegetarian. I eat meat. Cattle, chickens, hogs and other of the lower animals are bred and raised to supply food for the human animal. This probably makes me a hypocrite but as much as I enjoy a good steak or pork roast or whatever, I could not work in a slaughter house where the animals are killed.
I do not think it is appropriate behavior for people to derive enjoyment from the abuse and torture of the lower animals, and chasing a "greased" pig around a pen falls into the category of animal abuse.