After an animal rights activist filmed the conditions at an Australian pig farm in Tasmania, Magistrate John Myer fined the owner on charges of animal welfare violations.

He further stated that the deplorable state of some of the facility’s 1,800 pigs brought into question the viability
of intensive pig farms.

Police found sows with maggots crawling out of their bodies, while several were emaciated. Access to water
was irregular, and pens had not been cleaned for months.

Despite a long-term illness, one pig had been kept in an attempt to make her gain weight for slaughter and sale. Following the court’s ruling, the farmer indicated his intent to quit the business.

The often unspeakable conditions of pig farms are amplified by the sheer numbers involved in most factory farmed situations,

where thousands of animals are raised in confined conditions, inhaling the bacteria and toxic fumes of their own waste. Such an atmosphere of extreme filth inevitably leads to diseases such as swine flu, the most recent being the current pandemic H1N1 strain.

Professor Kendall Thu – Anthropologist, Northern Illinois University, USA (Co-editor of “Pigs, Profits, and Rural Communities”) (M): And with the spread of these facilities around the world, and the increasing contact of people from various parts of the world, it allows an increased opportunity for strains to mutate and survive.

VOICE: Swine flu has now sickened millions of people, though it is impossible to test every single case.
The official count grows daily, with 243,587 confirmed cases in nearly 180 countries and territories, and 2,349 fatalities.

The European Union notably reported 762 new cases in a 24-hour period.
Confirmed fatalities rose in New Zealand, Israel, South Australia, Brazil, and Spain, where the first loss of a child brought the country's total perished to 12.

In addition, the Mediterranean island of Malta just announced her first swine flu death.
Magistrate Myer and Tasmania, we appreciate your humane ruling. Our sympathies to those who have lost their loved ones to this unnecessary virus resulting ultimately from the demand for pig meat.

May all people protect themselves from the current swine flu and any future pandemics by adopting the safe organic vegan diet today.

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