It’s no wonder why people oppose the Murphy-Brown/Smithfield Foods factory hog farm in Eastern North Carolina — and why a jury recently awarded $50 million to people living near it. No one wants a filthy, foul-smelling, water-polluting, disease-spreading death factory in their backyard.

North Carolina’s 10 million hogs produce as much fecal waste in a day as 100 million humans. The waste, which is commonly sprayed on crops, causes humans to suffer from respiratory problems and other health issues.

Hogs have it even worse. On factory farms, female pigs are kept in crates that are so small they can’t turn around or comfortably lie down. They’re constantly impregnated and their babies are taken away from them soon after they’re born.

The piglets’ teeth and ears are cut, their tails are chopped off, and male piglets have their testicles ripped out — all without painkillers. At the slaughterhouse, pigs are hung upside-down, scalded, and bled to death, often while they’re still conscious.

Both humans and hogs will be better off if we stop raising pigs and opt for vegan foods, including veggie dogs, soy sausage, and vegan bacon.

See www.PETA.org for more information and product suggestions.

— Heather Moore

PETA Foundation

Norfolk, Va.