South Korea Reportedly Buries 1.4 Million Pigs Alive To Combat Foot And Mouth Disease

South Korea's decision to bury 1.4 million pigs alive in an effort to curb the spread of the highly contagious foot and mouth disease (FMD) has sparked the ire of international animal activists.

According to reports, the first case of FMD -- which affects all cloven hoofed animals including pigs, goats and cattle -- was confirmed in November in Andong city of North Gyeongsang province, and has since spread quickly. Officials began embarking on a mass cull of roughly 12 percent of its swine population to combat the disease, primarily because it affects the nation's ability to export meat, Food Safety News is reporting.

As part of the process, officials are said to be piling the pigs on top of each other in large trucks, dumping thousands of them into mass graves, and burying them alive.

"The outbreak is the most serious in Korea's history," Kim Jae-hong, a veterinary science professor at Seoul National University, is quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying. "It is hard to predict when we can contain the spread of the disease, but the most important thing right now is to control movement in and out of the farmhouses that are affected, and thoroughly disinfect the cars around the area."

Groups such as PETA have started online campaigns, arguing for the animals to be vaccinated rather than killed. Though Reuters reports that 1.2 million pigs have since been vaccinated, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says treatments must be matched to the specific type and subtype of the virus before it can be effective.

Comments

[Randall Bart]

05:10 PM on 02/24/2011

Did you say "all cloven hoofed animals including pigs"? F&M affects all even-toed ungulates (animals with cloven hoofs). F&M also affects pigs, which are odd-toed ungulates. Pigs do not have cloven hooves.

[superkingda13]

02:55 AM on 02/04/2011

i'm sick of these types of media because it just brings out the craziness of people. i am angry but not for the same reasons. i'm angry at the insanity. let me lucidly explain reality to you people:

america has rodeos that are sponsored and condoned by the general public and accepted as they mistreat and abuse and kill animals. hello????

you hunt and kill deer like they are nothing important because they are not your pets.

you hunt pigeons or ducks or whatever you deem not in the category of your pets. this is all inhumane considering their lives are deemed less important than pleasure as target practice.

please wake up and take a look at your own culture and country before you point fingers at others. geezus.

and guess what? something i'm sure none of you have even considered is that asian cultures do not play around with animals for amusement as much as western culture?? think about that too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sf2NSLhb4c&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D652zsCMDhU&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r8lj_yzdVw&feature=relmfu

[alienlovesong]

02:58 PM on 03/01/2011

I agree with you on the above condemnations of western culture, but most asian cultures beat, boil, bake and skin alive animals in the belief that it makes them taste better or their fur softer, so none of us are humane or sane when it comes to treating our fellow creatures.

[James Russel]

12:31 AM on 03/03/2011

Yes....a few sick in the head Americans kill/torture animals but they don't stand for all Americans, hunters shoot/kill their prey and most likely eat as well. I hate animal abuse, In asian country it's an every day thing...I have seen dogs being skinned alive in a market place where people go shopping about their daily business where it's no big deal... and it's not considered animal abuse, I have seen coin machines where you can buy live crabs in a small plastic container and the crab can never move at all (but who cares about crabs?) I have seen fish sliced in half still alive on a food plate moving its mouth looking at me and the whole reasoning behind it is "because it tastes better" so their torture satisfies them, who cares right? After all it's just food, I am sure the animal didn't feel any pain at all, the screams meant nothing...burying/torturing 1.4 million pigs alive is probably as bad as it gets... I know you are standing up for your country but other countries don't see how your governments can allow all this animal cruelty over there, it makes me sick. Give the animal an instant death if you are going to eat it, not torture it.

[Valerie Kennedy]

09:02 PM on 01/25/2011

Well, I was worried about North Korea, but this is so hellish and heinous I think the whole country sucks.

[rowdiman]

09:41 PM on 01/20/2011

Am I missing something? WHY did they bury them alive?

[grumpyfarmer]

09:14 AM on 01/20/2011

All this carnage in South Korea, and in our brilliance we are going to put the laboratory that studies F&M and a host of other serious animal diseases in Manhattan Kansas, right in the heart of farm country. Give us about 10-15 years and we will be having massive livestock culls right here in the US.

[Chyna Doll]

08:29 PM on 01/19/2011

I think this is a case were gasing them or something would have been alot kinder

[tooncesrocks]

06:13 AM on 01/18/2011

poor animals... fear terror and torture... humans are all to good at dealing this out

[SweetJudith]

05:16 PM on 01/20/2011

Fanned and faved Toon!

[superkingda13]

12:28 AM on 01/18/2011

People. I AM in Korea right now. The hoof and mouth disease (HMD) is a deadly serious problem here.

The Koreans to include Korean farmers are NOT sadists or "pig murders". The Koreans would have come up with a better way if they could have. Would it have "looked" better to PETA types if the Koreans had shot....or "gassed" 1.4 million pigs? How about inoculation? They tried that, problem got too big too fast and incubation times for the disease out-paced efforts to contain the spread. The Koreans are desperately trying to prevent a huge collapse in the agricultural sector of their economy (which is thriving for the most part) and...

Are these measures harsh? Sure, no doubt. Unfortunately that's the way it is sometimes in life.
Is is harsh when in the US they gas unwanted puppies and kittens by the dumpster full? Yup. Is it harsh when in the US they kill "unwanted" wild horses out west? Sure is. It's harsh when you clear cut a forest so people can have wood for houses. It's harsh when fishing nets scoop up life by the ton.....so people can eat. Yes.
And, as humans live life further separated from the harsh realities that support them they will continue to foster the "dream-like" state of mind in themselves that allows them to be so judgmental of others.

[tooncesrocks]

06:16 AM on 01/18/2011

to answer your first question: yes

to comment on your first statement "deadly serious",,, I have to wonder, do you know what you are talking about? The only thing at risk here is money.

Lastly, torture is not justified to save money nor is it justified to make money. You don't seem understand the world in which you live.

[AllowMeToObserve]

02:43 AM on 01/19/2011

Very well said. Thank you. F&F.

[Lifencompass]

12:11 PM on 01/19/2011

Exactly "buried alive". I mean they could have killed them quickly instead of piling them up on one another as they screamed for their lives while being buried, suffocated and dying in a prolonged death.

[grumpyfarmer]

09:13 AM on 01/20/2011

a .22 bullet is very cheap. I never heard of a modern civilized country culling livestock by burying them alive.

[superkingda13]

10:52 PM on 01/17/2011

lol. also, wanna know something else? do you know that the pigs in korea taste much different and are actually much healthier than the pigs in western countries? why? because the pigs in western countries are extremely stressed from birth to slaughter. it literally has no flavor compared to the pork produced in korea.

also, westerners are overlooking that pigs are confined in concrete/metal cages with no fresh air or sunshine their entire life with barely any room to turn around while they go insane banging their head against their cage out of boredom and you have the nerve to point fingers?

that's the problem, you all have become too coddled and unrealistic. you can't stand these sensational newsbits but ignore the suffering that happens regardless. whatever spikes your mental programming such as 'burying alive' as items that cross reference in your mind as unacceptable but in reality, suffering is suffering. if you are a meateater, the real truth is you support the suffering if animals, period and end of story. these pigs will only suffer a few more minutes. and that's the reality.

[Chel Ramsey]

12:42 AM on 01/18/2011

Not all of us. Please don't lump everyone into the 'all' category. I for one have absolutely 0 delusions that the way we treat animals world wide could be much better and the US is just as horrible as anyone else if not more so.

[tooncesrocks]

06:18 AM on 01/18/2011

agreed...

pig farming is some of the worst... and torture at the end of life is never justified

[SweetJudith]

02:40 PM on 01/19/2011

Superking, many, many of we westerners know exactly whats going on in factory farming.
Many of us are fighting hard to end what the pigs are going through. Stop with the untruths!
Suffer a few more minutes?!? Your untruths are starting to sound like Palins...
Pathetic!!!!!

[GerryS]

10:37 PM on 01/17/2011

wow, a new food technique------------------------

what is it called?

[superkingda13]

10:31 PM on 01/17/2011

i wonder if the western world has ever asked themselves this or looked at themselves in the mirror.

answer this: for a society that preaches they care so much about animal life, why is it the western world is the largest consumer of meat? it's practically half or at least the major part of the diet whereas in eastern diet, it is marginal. hmm?

also, why is there so much concern over a few minutes of suffocation but as long as there suffering is out of sight and out of mind, it's okay? as long as you can just see it in saran wrap? hmm??

in conclusion, you are hypocritically sentimental and have more a problem with the idea of burying alive than with actual suffering. this is all to quell your own sensiblities. does this insight bother you? because it should and it should make you wake up as well!!!

[ANP]

08:33 PM on 01/17/2011

This breaks my heart. I feel so angry at the ignorance of these people. Do they not know these animals are living creatures that breathe, and feel? They are defenseless creatures. What is the matter with these people!!! There is always a better solution. Put them out to pasture to die naturally. I can't imagine the people that perform this horrific act do not have this playing over and over in their minds! The sounds the pigs’ make during this act must radiate through them. I sure hope it does as it is barbaric and unnatural to burry an animal alive.

[Shempster Shemp]

11:09 PM on 01/17/2011

Its good to know that in general, we humans possess empathy. However, that fact alone, is not enough to improve conditions for these severely suffering animals. A major problem is that economists and legal minds, who lack any empathy whatsoever, monopolize policy creation, the rules and limits of factory farms, whereas biologists, who really need to weigh in on these matters are ignored. On top of that, you have this constant BS coming from the plutocracy insidiously discrediting science and fact on a daily basis. You wind up with a mass of uninformed, severely misinformed, ignorant public with a primed, planted, predilection to oppose everything humanity should be doing to ensure the survival of our own species, along with non-human life that evolved alongside us.

[superkingda13]

11:10 PM on 01/17/2011

ironically, it's people like you who are ignorant. pasturing these diseased animals does not lessen their suffering. in reality to die of suffocation which would only take a few minutes technically is a lot less suffering than dying of foot and mouth disease which takes awhile and is very painful. this is the problem again, unrealistic thinking. what westerners don't realize is that the world is much more realistic about the suffering that goes on, they aren't overly sentimental because they realize this. the western mindframe has become so artificial and removed from the process. if you cared that much, you just wouldn't eat meat. a vegetarian is the only type of people who really have room to complain. it is not more 'barbaric' to bury these animals alive. that's just sentimentalism and the idea is horrific but in reality the whole system is barbaric. it's just the west likes to pretend it isn't and only certain acts are. somehow slow and miserable existence is deemed okay which is actually even more hypocritical. if you eat meat, you must accept that one is supporting the misery and killing of animals. it's just inevitable.

[alienlovesong]

03:05 PM on 03/01/2011

I would like to see how you'd handle being buried alive. I don't eat meat, wear leather or am involved in any exploitation of animals, and I'm thinking when it comes to karma I'm going to be a lot better off than most of you. It's all about instant gratification, to hell with kindness and who's got a bigger stick.

[FirstBeKind]

08:01 PM on 01/17/2011

Egypt carried out a similar mass slaughter about a year ago. I cannot comprehend how human beings can be so absolutely callous and without feeling as to cause such mindless suffering to helpless creatures. If we can do something so horrible to these pathetic pigs, we are just one step away from carrying out the act against a group of people we fear or hate.

It grieves me that I drive a car made by a Korean manufacturer. I will be visably sick to my stomach every time I get behind the wheel and start the ignition. As soon as I am financially able, I am trading this car in for another vehicle.

I cannot bear to think about the suffering these creatures endured because of man(kind?).

Oh, may God have mercy on us!

[superkingda13]

11:15 PM on 01/17/2011

you cannot bear to think of the suffering that creatures endure? then don't eat meat because they endure a lifetime of it. how could one not realize that? factory farming is cruel and miserable and even unnatural. do you think it's okay as long as some types of suffering to quell your sensibilities is not practiced? do you know what battery hens, milk cows, veal etc endure? that's a lot longer suffering than these poor creatures will endure. it's really not worse than the other. it's all about an idea in your mind that's offensive which is in actuality a selfish reason. it offends you, not that these creatures don't suffer in other ways.

[Shempster Shemp]

11:50 PM on 01/17/2011

A major problem is the public remains uninformed. Govt and the aggribusiness boom it supports keeps it out of sight out of mind. The public needs to be informed, despite the free press, for any chance of seeing any real change in this trending towards huge, cost-cutting, poorly managed factory farms and the incredibly extreme suffering of the millions of factory farm animals (birth to slaughter). It is not inevitable, nor unstoppable.

[FirstBeKind]

06:35 PM on 01/22/2011

Superkingda13---

You need to STOP making assumptions!!! Just because the percentage of vegetarians and vegans is miniscule compared to flesh eaters doesn't give you the right to preach about not eating meat. We''ve not just fallen off the potato truck, dude! Most of the people who read Huff Post and comment hear are well-read, well-informed and find stupid comments irritating.

[rawfoodsphd]

09:41 PM on 01/16/2011

This story breaks my heart. From what I've studied over the years, pigs tend to be the most alert and conscious of farm animals. I can't even begin to imagine how terrifying this must have been to them. How can we evolve as a species if this is how we treat the animals that we supposedly steward? No wonder I'm a vegan...

[seehowtheyrun]

01:05 PM on 01/17/2011

They are. They're really intelligent, maybe even more than dogs. I met a baby pot belly pig at a pet store and it was the sweetest most friendly little guy! Wagged his little tail when I petted him. What a terrible story this is.

[SweetJudith]

02:04 PM on 01/19/2011

Vegan is the only way to go...We were put on this earth to become these darlings guardians, not their killers. At least 98% of the human population has failed miserably...
Fanned and Faved!

[reddy52]

04:45 PM on 01/20/2011

"We were put on this earth to become these darlings guardians, not their killers."

Wrong.

[seajewel]

08:30 PM on 01/16/2011

Wake up! As long as we continue to buy animal products from farm factories we support just this type of behavior. You cannot give them one dollar of your money or they WILL take it and do harm to yet another animal.