I haven't watched the video on CNN - I just don't think I can stand it - but I've read the accompanying story, the one about the pig abuse. I have a hard time reconciling my love for sausage with a story like that. I mean, sausage tastes sooo good. I just don't know if I could give it up entirely. Still, I think there are more humane ways to harvest a little bacon, though many would argue that's oxymoronic. What needs to happen to those men is jail. Like years in prison. They'll get out on parole after 18 months, but the precedent will be set. And the plant? Shut it down. Plain and simple. And Hormel? Some sort of hefty fine. The negative publicity alone won't cost them enough dollars to teach them a lesson in vigilance, humanity and accountability. I urge you to, at the very least, buy your hog from someone other than Hormel. And I also urge you to do your homework. Free range chickens? There is no USDA definition of that. Don't be fooled. They still probably don't have beaks. I'm not saying you should give up meat and dairy products; that's a message that people tune out before you get to the part where you tell them soy milk tastes great and is blah, blah, blah. Exactly. So what you should do, in the real world, is find out from whence your ham hock comes. Buy your eggs from some local hippie you know. And don't fucking beat animals. People who beat animals have small penises and jerk off to Toys-R-Us ads. You know, we had a pig when I was younger. Not one of those fake Vietnamese pigs, a real, big pig. They are smart. They are playful - at least before they get immobile from obesity. And they generally kick ass. And, yes, they go well with eggs. They do not, however, go well with abuse.

Labels: abuse, animal, pig, sausage