http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=77809336-7494-4c36-bf48-f84848bd216a
Nightmare journey for pigs
Group details 6,000-km trip before slaughter in Hawaii

Joel Kom
Canwest News Service

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

CALGARY -- Pigs shipped to Hawaii from farms in southern Alberta are made to endure a journey of thirst, cruelty and sometimes death, a coalition of animal-welfare groups claimed yesterday.

A two-year investigation by the World Society for the Protection of Animals found that pigs shipped from farms near Lethbridge were being transported in their own feces and vomit over the course of the 6,000-kilometre trip. Several dozen of the animals did not survive the journey.

The pigs on the monitored trips had to stand for the entire time and were not fed or watered.

They were slaughtered in Hawaii and labelled "Island Pork," the group said.

"How fresh is fresh when you've got animals stewing in their own feces, urine and vomit for seven to nine days?" said spokesman Pat Tohill.

The pigs were left in trucks or shipping containers for days at a time, violating the spirit of Canadian and U.S. laws, the group said.

Canadian regulations say pigs can travel only a maximum of 36 hours without food, water or rest.

The pigs followed in the investigation surpassed that maximum -- but the shippers did not break the rules because the clock is reset once the trucks enter the U.S.

Tohill called Canada's standards among the lowest in the industrialized world.

"We're doing nothing wrong," said Bob Perlich, manager of Perlich Brothers Auction Market in Lethbridge.

He said up to 15,000 pigs from the region are shipped to Hawaii each year.

Jodi Hesse, of Alberta Pork, which represents pork producers, said the industry takes care of animals being shipped.

While she said footage collected by the group was "disturbing," she would wait for a Canadian Food Inspection Agency report before commenting further.