Halo wonderful viewers and welcome to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants.

Pigs are among the most intelligent animals on Earth. In fact, according to scientific studies, their intelligence level surpasses that of a three-year old child. They are also very sensitive and caring beings as shown by the fact that mother pigs sing to their piglets while they are nursing.

The Pig Preserve is a non-profit sanctuary for abandoned, neglected, abused and homeless pigs in Tennessee, USA run by Richard and Laura Hoyle. Currently the facility houses approximately 60 residents. Having had a chance to closely observe pigs for many years, Mr. Hoyle has the following observations about their nature.

These animals crave the companionship of other pigs. They bond very closely with other pigs. (For) the farm pigs it’s a matriarchal society. The dominant pig is one of the big females. And everybody in that herd knows his or her place in the social order, and they are very comfortable with that. They stay with one another when a pig is sick. Within the herd there is this very intricate social structure, and friendships are made.

You have to be here when one of the pigs gets sick and goes through a lengthy process, to appreciate how the other pigs will stand guard over the pig, sleep with that pig, look over your shoulder when you’re trying to do something, give shots or something; there will be three or four of the pig’s companions looking over your shoulder making sure that you’re not hurting their buddy.

The depth of their feelings and the depth of their social structure never, even after 25 years of doing it, still never cease to amaze me. Recognizing the sentient nature of our porcine friends, many pig farmers have made the noble decision to leave the industry and seek a peaceful livelihood. Today will introduce you to some of their heart-felt stories on the first of a two-part series entitled, “Courageous Pig Farmers Transition to a Peaceful Lifestyle.”

We now totally negate their suffering, their well-being, what they're really here on the planet for and turn them into these things that we're ingesting.

Randall Ball, a vegan, comes from a family of pig farmers, but left the business to create Paradise Found, a local organic produce distribution service in Ohio, USA.

My family historically have been pig farmers right here in Ohio. I want to say one of the things that really got me interested in health and why I'm in the field that I am is my father died when I was two years old.

I'm number five out of six children and he died of a heart attack and we were pig farmers and every single one of his siblings also died of a heart attack. And it made me really wonder about that connection and the more I looked into it, the connection is obvious to anyone who's willing to look at the science.

From heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity to untreatable infections that originate from livestock, it is clear meat consumption severely threatens our health. Drug-resistant infections such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) are being linked to livestock that are fed huge amounts of antibiotics daily to artificially promote growth and counteract the diseases that prevail in their utterly filthy, overcrowded living conditions.

I come from the medical industry. I spent 10 years in diagnostics and when I look at the factory farms, they can only be described as an abomination to me, both health-wise and from an environmental standpoint.

And personally I don't choose to, and I encourage everyone not to, put this terror, this pain, this suffering, this total pollution into their bodies. In addition, it's a virtual breeding ground for all diseases, the swine flu, the bird flu, all these really aren't inherent in pigs. Pigs are actually one of the cleanest animals on the planet.

Intensive livestock production has spawned other harmful new illnesses such as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, from Mad Cow disease, and is responsible for the current swine flu pandemic. The official number of swine flu fatalities globally is now over 12,000, with tallies of all infections being far too many to count.

For two former pig farmers in southern Âu Lạc (Vietnam), both of whom are now vegans, the swine flu and environmental concerns caused them to stop livestock farming and switch to growing organic dragon fruit.

Nowadays, I’ve heard television reports from around the world informing us that H1N1 (swine flu) has been very quickly affecting human health. Also, everyday I see animals’ waste polluting water supplies and surrounding communities, affecting our own health first, then the communities’ health. For that reason, I switched to growing dragon fruit.

Why did you change your job?

The reason is that the radio continually reported about H1N1 (swine flu) transmission between humans, and then I saw that raising pigs affected the environment and the water source that people around here are using. I felt bad and decided to change my job.

We’ll return after these messages with our program on courageous pig farmers adopting sustainable livelihoods. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

When it comes to factory farms, I think there's tremendous amount of scientific data showing how bad they are, the health risk and so forth and I really want to say that I really thank and admire Supreme Master TV for all the collection of the data that they do.

They (pigs) are our good friends, so we should not eat them.

Welcome back to Animal World: Our Co-inhabitants for our show featuring heroic pig farmers who have transitioned to a noble lifestyle for the sake of the animals, their own health and the environment. Pigs are clean, loyal, affectionate and have excellent memories.

Much scientific research has been done in to the inner life of these interesting animal co-inhabitants which show just how complex and social they are. Professor Donald Broom of Cambridge University Veterinary School in the UK has stated that pigs “have the cognitive ability to be quite sophisticated.”

In raising pigs, I found that sows were just like us women. When they went into labor I also felt pain as if they are my younger sisters. They couldn’t talk like us, so I pitied for them a lot.

I think we really have to look deeper than just the science. How do we feel about that and how does that resonate with our heart and our gut and I think it's obvious that we have this disconnect with the rest of life on Earth and taken these beings that have an equal right to be here and done whatever we pleased.

These intelligent and sensitive animals endure unspeakable atrocities on pig farms. Their noses contain almost 200 times the concentration of scent cells possessed by humans. With their innate cleanliness and acute sense of smell, factory farmed pigs suffer endlessly in the wretched filth and stench caused by being crammed by the thousands into sheds.

Although their operation was small in comparison to large-scale factory farms, these sensitive farmers in Âu Lạc (Vietnam) realized the inherent cruelty in confining and slaughtering their fellow sentient beings.

Cao Đài’s teachings forbid killing. At that time, I also felt very ashamed, “Why do I, a Cao Đài follower, still raise animals for food?” How ashamed I was!

Before when I raised pigs, the waste from raising pigs caused pneumonia, and my wife and children’s health were not good, and we weren’t very happy. Raising pigs also created a lot of problems. For example, when a pig was sick, I didn’t know the reason, so I had to buy medicine for them. I worried for them. When a pig was sick, I too felt sick. Seeing them sick, I felt pity for them, because they couldn’t speak.

Each time I sold a pig, they kept going back in, not wanting to leave me, because they had already grown attached to me. I did not want the pig to be slaughtered. I thought of the pig being tied up. “My God! Tonight, the pig will be killed.” I prayed for her a lot. Each time, I sold a pig, I fell ill for a month, even longer. Then I told my husband, “Oh honey, we should stop raising pigs!” And he said, “All right then.” I had no heart to sell the pigs, because I felt so much love for them. I couldn’t raise them for meat anymore.

Many noble former pig farmers like Hsu Chun-De of Formosa (Taiwan) left the industry despite pressure to continue on. Mr. Hsu is now the president of Yunlin County’s Nature Research Institute and founder of Noah’s Ark, a project to preserve the island’s water plant species.

In 2000, I closed my pig farm and began doing work related to environmental protection.

I had to give up several millions dollars of income. But we should insist on doing the right thing. In taking on difficulties, I insist on doing what’s right. Without persistence, we can’t transform our lives successfully.

How did you support your husband’s decision?

In the beginning, I was also very reluctant to close the pig farm. We could make several million New Taiwan dollars a year. But considering the environment and our future generations, even though we are not as wealthy, our life is very relaxed and happy.

The kind farmers in Âu Lạc (Vietnam) also initially experienced similar worries and challenges in changing their occupation but they shared the same fortitude in walking the righteous path.

It was rather difficult, but I was determined, therefore, I could overcome all hardships. My brothers, sisters and in-laws said, “Your pigpen is good, and you stop now? What a pity!” I answered, “No, I’ve already made up my mind. Besides, the dragon fruit trees now bear fruits. for me to harvest.

So I stopped raising pigs.”

How did your family react to this?

At first, my family was puzzled about my decision, but my brother Tám explained clearly about the karmic debt and spiritual aspect of this so that we all understood. First, it harms everyone’s health. Secondly, it pollutes water sources. Therefore, I was determined to change my occupation at once.

The resolve of these tender-hearted pig farmers to switch to a loving and eco-friendly way of life is truly admirable. We will continue with their touching accounts tomorrow on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. For more information about Hsu Chun-De, please visit Steadfast viewers, thank you for joining us for today’s program. Next up is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May miracles bless you as you lead a life of caring and dignity.

Daddy wherever you are, remember me Daddy whatever you do, I love you.

And it’s music that lifts our spirit up, (Yes) and motivates the other people, our refugee brothers who have been in the same stress as we were, and to help them forget about their past.

Singing from their heart to comfort others is the Refugee All Stars, from Sierra Leone, Africa. To learn more about them, please join us this coming Sunday, October 11, right on Good People, Good Works.

Wishing all our Jewish Viewers a Happy Hanukkah Wishing all our Muslim Viewers a happy Al-Hijrah