1,000 Pigs Starve to Death on PA Farm

It’s been an especially bad month for animals on factory farms. Thousands of animals died in fires over the past couple weeks, hens at a Nebraska egg farm were going to be ground up alive until PETA stepped in, and we now have word that nearly 1,000 pigs starved to death after apparently being abandoned on a farm in Fulton County, Pa.

The pigs were discovered by the estranged wife of the farmer who reportedly vacated the property several months ago—and apparently left hundreds of pigs and several calves behind to die. According to a humane society police officer who responded to the scene, evidence indicates that the animals were trapped inside barns and “struggled and fought to get out.”

Union Township Supervisor Gary Sheeder, who is an acquaintance of the farm’s owner, was appalled by scale of the tragedy. “I can’t believe, with as many kids as he had, that life didn’t mean more to him,” he told a reporter.

The real estate agent who is handling the sale of the death trap farm was more sanguine: “I think this is very normal in a lot of farming operations, that you’re going to have dead animals.”

Yeah, our undercover investigators have noticed that too.

Fortunately, authorities are taking the case seriously, and several state and local agencies—including the humane society, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the state Department of Environmental Protection, and the Pennsylvania State Police—are investigating and are considering pressing charges. Check back for updates as we learn more.

Written by Alisa Mullins