Earlier this month I sent out an alert about groundbreaking coverage by Foxnews.com of heinous cruelty at a pig slaughterhouse -- a supplier of Smithfield. I know many of you expressed appreciation to Fox News for the coverage. As often happens when a media outlet receives a lot of positive feedback for a story, the reporter has done a follow-up.

The follow-up, by Catherine Donaldson-Evans, posted Friday December 21, is headed "North Carolina Slaughterhouse Workers Fired for Brutally Abusing Pigs."

In the middle of the page we see a photo of sows crammed into individual gestation crates, biting the metal bars in frustration. And like the previous story, this one also links to the PETA action page, which includes video of the horrifying abuses caught on tape by an undercover worker, and an online form through which you can get in touch with Smithfield. That page is http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/smithfield_investigation

The Foxnews.com follow-up story opens:
"Workers at a North Carolina slaughterhouse caught on hidden camera brutally abusing pigs have been fired.

"Several employees of Murphy Family Ventures, which owns pig-breeding farms that supply the country's largest pork producer Smithfield Foods, were filmed by an undercover investigator from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) dragging and beating swine, gouging out their eyes and castrating their babies without painkillers.

"A supervisor was also taped admitting to violently mistreating the pigs."

Those of us who saw the video with the first report are reminded:

"In the grainy, black-and-white video, pigs with the word 'KILL' spray-painted on their backs scream as they're yanked to slaughter with a heavy metal prodder attached to their legs, ears and snouts, and women laugh as they cut off the testicles of one piglet after another without anesthesia.

"In a different segment, a supervisor boasts about beating the animals."

Perhaps most importantly we read:

"The PETA investigator said he also saw people cutting off the tails of baby pigs, as well as other horrors. Castration and tail-chopping without painkillers are general practice at swine slaughterhouses, according to the animal rights group."

You'll find the whole follow-up piece on line at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317947,00.html

Many of us no longer eat pigs and would prefer they weren't eaten at all. But if they are to be killed for food, we would prefer to spare them torture prior to their deaths. The unusual Foxnews.com coverage has aided that goal. It also provides Foxnews.com readers with information about the standard treatment of pigs in slaughterhouse. That information is likely to put some readers off their Christmas ham -- for good.

Many animal advocates are already off line for the holidays. If you are still around, please take just a moment to thank Foxnews.com its coverage. Positive feedback for coverage of animal issues really does encourage more of it.

Send your comments to Yourcomments@foxnews.com

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn