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Midwest Piggy Palace
Nancy Shepherd felt the call to raise pigs after she rescued a commercial piglet from her neighbor. Before she knew it, this former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader found herself enamored with and surrounded by commercial and potbellied pigs. Nancy Shepherd felt the call to raise pigs after she rescued a commercial piglet from her neighbor. Before she knew it, this former Ka... more
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Controversial Denver police union T-shirt
The Denver police union is selling for $10 with the slogan "We get up early to beat the crowds." In reference to the DNC.
I wonder if this shirt will be reproduced by St. Paul police. The Denver police union is selling for $10 with the slogan "We get up early to beat the crowds." In reference to the DNC. ... more -
Scientists use pigs to try to beat cystic fibrosis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. scientists have created pigs that appear to develop cystic fibrosis just as people do, a step they hope will accelerate efforts to tackle the disease.
Writing in the journal Science on Thursday, scientists at the University of Iowa and the University of Missouri said they created genetically engineered piglets with the same mutation that causes cystic fibrosis in people.
Studying how the disease unfolds in these pigs may provide insights into cystic fibrosis that thus far have eluded scientists and could point toward new treatments or maybe even a cure, said Dr. Michael Welsh of the University of Iowa.
People get CF when they inherit two mutated copies of a gene called CFTR, which was pinpointed as the cause in 1989. The disease causes mucus to accumulate and clog some of the organs in the body, especially the lungs and pancreas.
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which helped fund the study, said about 70,000 people worldwide, including 30,000 people in the United States, have CF. People with the disease can expect to live to about age 37.
Scientists create animal "models" of a disease in order to perform experiments that would not be possible with people. Mice with the genetic abnormality that causes cystic fibrosis have been developed, but the disease presents itself very differently in these rodents than in people.
"Unfortunately, the mice leave something to be desired," Welsh, who helped lead the study, said in a telephone interview.
"They don't get the pancreatic disease like people with CF get. They don't get the lung disease like people with CF get. They don't get the intestinal disease like people with CF get. There's been many questions that can't be answered," he added. Continued... WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. scientists have created pigs that appear to develop cystic fibrosis just as people do, a step they hope wi... more -
Scientists Create Pigs That Can Develop Cystic Fibrosis
Scientists hope that a new development, which allows them to create pigs that develop cystic fibrosis in the same way the people do, will give them new insight into fighting the disease.
Scientists at the University of Iowa and the University of Missouri have created genetically engineered piglets with the same mutation that causes cystic fibrosis in humans, they report in the journal Science.
Up to this point, scientists have been unable to find any hints that may lead to a possible cure, but this latest development should offer an unprecedented look at the disease, said Dr. Michael Welsh of the University of Iowa.
CF is caused when people inherit two mutated copies of a gene called CTFR. The disease causes mucus to accumulate and clog some of the organs in the body, especially the lungs and pancreas.
About 70,000 people worldwide, including 30,000 people in the United States, have CF
. People with the disease can expect to live to about age 37, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which helped fund the study.
Scientists create animal "models" of a disease in order to perform experiments that would not be possible with people. Mice with the genetic abnormality that causes cystic fibrosis have been developed, but the disease presents itself very differently in these rodents than in people.
"Unfortunately, the mice leave something to be desired," said Welsh, who helped lead the study.
"They don't get the pancreatic disease like people with CF get. They don't get the lung disease like people with CF get. They don't get the intestinal disease like people with CF get. There's been many questions that can't be answered," he added.
Christopher Penland of the foundation admitted there is some difficulty in pinpointing the onset of the disease.
This is the latest example of pigs used for human medical needs.
The scientists developed pigs with cystic fibrosis because their lungs have many characteristics of human lungs.
"Right now, if you want to do experiments to find treatments or therapies for the lung disease that is fatal for people with CF, you would have to experiment on kids that have CF," Randy Prather of the University of Missouri added.
Now the developments leading to the disease in pigs allows scientists to “start experimenting in ways that have never been possible," Prather said in a statement. Scientists hope that a new development, which allows them to create pigs that develop cystic fibrosis in the same way the people do, w... more -
Cruelty, the Livestock Industry Standard
WASHINGTON – An Iowa sheriff said Wednesday he has launched an investigation into a videotape showing abuse of pigs at a farm.
The video, shot by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, shows farm workers hitting sows with metal rods, slamming piglets on a concrete floor and bragging about jamming rods into sows' hindquarters. Greene County Sheriff Tom Heater told The Associated Press that he had met with PETA representatives on Tuesday. "They provided us with what appears to be some really good information," he said. "Our next step is to secure interviews with potential suspects, and definitely make sure that there's no further abuse occurring down there; that's our main concern at this point." --when asked if crimes had been committed, Heater responded, "It appears that there were, yes."
On the video, obtained by The AP, a supervisor tells an undercover PETA investigator that when he gets angry or a sow won't move, "I grab one of these rods and jam it in her (anus)."
The farm, located outside of Bayard, Iowa, about 60 miles west of Des Moines, is a supplier to Hormel Foods of Austin, Minn. PETA wants to use the results of the investigation to pressure Hormel, the maker of Spam and other food products, to demand that its suppliers ensure humane treatment of pigs.
Hormel spokeswoman Julie Henderson Craven called the incidents "completely unacceptable."
PETA is seeking prosecution of 18 people on animal cruelty violations. According to PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich, the video shows eight people directly abusing animals.
"Abuse on factory farms is the absolute norm, not the exception, and anyone eating factory-farmed meat is paying to support it," Friedrich said.
After getting a whistleblower complaint from someone inside the farm, PETA sent two undercover investigators to get hired at the farm and document its practices; one from June 10 to Sept. 8, and the other from July 23 to Sept. 11.
At one point on the video, an employee shouts to an investigator, "Hurt 'em! There's nobody works for PETA out here. You know who PETA is?" The undercover PETA investigator replies that he's heard of the group "I hate them. These (expletives) deserve to be hurt. Hurt, I say!," the employee yells as he hits a sow with a metal rod. "Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! ... Take out your frustrations on 'em." He encourages the investigator to pretend that one of the pigs scared off a voluptuous and willing 17- or 18-year-old girl, and then beat the pig for it.
Natural Pork Production II referred questions to AMVC Management Services, which managed the farm under its ownership. Mark Jones, AMVC's network manager, said the video showed "unacceptable practices" and that his company is working with the new ownership to investigate.
Craven, the Hormel spokeswoman, said the farm became a Hormel supplier only after the change in ownership, and that MowMar "shares our commitment to animal welfare and humane handling. Our industry is committed to handling pigs humanely," she said. "My industry is full of good people."
At one point in the video, workers are shown slamming piglets on the ground, a practice designed to instantly kill those baby pigs that aren't healthy enough. But on the video, the piglets are not killed instantly, and in a bloodied pile, some piglets can be seen wiggling vainly. The video also shows piglets being castrated, and having their tails cut off, without anesthesia.
Temple Grandin, a leading animal welfare expert who serves as a consultant to the livestock industry, said that while those are standard industry practices, the treatment of the sows on the video was far from it.
VIDEO LINK:
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_us/storyte... WASHINGTON – An Iowa sheriff said Wednesday he has launched an investigation into a videotape showing abuse of pigs at a far... more -
Genetically engineered meat could be on the table after U.S. review
After more than seven years of discussion, the Food and Drug Administration Thursday proposed regulations that would allow the commercial use of genetically engineered animals.
Such animals are genetically altered — their genes are either changed or genes from another animal are added — for a specific purpose. The FDA states that such animals either produce drugs; serve as models for human disease; produce industrial or consumer products, such as fiber; or have improved food-use qualities, such as being more nutritious.
The only genetically engineered creature available for sale in the USA is an aquarium fish that glows in the dark. Examples currently in the laboratory stage include:
•Salmon that grow more quickly and efficiently.
•Goats that produce drugs in their milk or blood.
•Chickens that produce drugs in the whites of their eggs.
•Cows that cannot get the brain-wasting mad cow disease.
•Pigs engineered to make their organs transplantable into humans without rejection.
•Hypoallergenic dogs and cats.
The proposed regulations would require FDA review of each application to ensure that any food sold for human consumption is safe and that the animal's health would not be damaged in the process.
Each use would have to be approved separately, so a goat that made insulin in its milk would be one application. That same goat engineered to also be resistant to udder infections would be another.
It's expected that once a company creates an animal with the exact right genetic makeup, more animals would be made by cloning to preserve the genetics.
While the potential is huge, the actual number of groups working on animals like this is small, says Jaydee Hanson from the non-profit Center for Food Safety. "You're talking maybe five or so companies and 10 or so universities."
The FDA will take public comment until Nov. 18, then finalize the regulations. After more than seven years of discussion, the Food and Drug Administration Thursday proposed regulations that would allow the commerc... more -
Pigs Fly in Australia (photos)
Photographs from the 2008 Royal Melbourne Show at the Melbourne Showgrounds in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday, September 18, 2008.
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AP Exclusive: Video shows workers abusing pigs - Yahoo! News
An Iowa sheriff said Wednesday he has launched an investigation into a videotape showing abuse of pigs at a farm.
The video, shot by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, shows farm workers hitting sows with metal rods, slamming piglets on a concrete floor and bragging about jamming rods into sows' hindquarters. Greene County Sheriff Tom Heater told The Associated Press that he had met with PETA representatives on Tuesday.
"They provided us with what appears to be some really good information," he said. "Our next step is to secure interviews with potential suspects, and definitely make sure that there's no further abuse occurring down there — that's our main concern at this point."
Asked if crimes had been committed, Heater responded, "It appears that there were, yes."
On the video, obtained by The AP, a supervisor tells an undercover PETA investigator that when he gets angry or a sow won't move, "I grab one of these rods and jam it in her (anus)."
The farm, located outside of Bayard, Iowa, about 60 miles west of Des Moines, is a supplier to Hormel Foods of Austin, Minn. PETA wants to use the results of the investigation to pressure Hormel, the maker of Spam and other food products, to demand that its suppliers ensure humane treatment of pigs.
Hormel spokeswoman Julie Henderson Craven called the incidents "completely unacceptable."
PETA is seeking prosecution of 18 people on animal cruelty violations. According to PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich, the video shows eight people directly abusing animals.
"Abuse on factory farms is the absolute norm, not the exception, and anyone eating factory-farmed meat is paying to support it," Friedrich said.
After getting a whistleblower complaint from someone inside the farm, PETA sent two undercover investigators to get hired at the farm and document its practices — one from June 10 to Sept. 8, and the other from July 23 to Sept. 11.
At one point on the video, an employee shouts to an investigator, "Hurt 'em! There's nobody works for PETA out here. You know who PETA is?"
The undercover PETA investigator replies that he's heard of the group.
"I hate them. These (expletives) deserve to be hurt. Hurt, I say!," the employee yells as he hits a sow with a metal rod. "Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! ... Take out your frustrations on 'em." He encourages the investigator to pretend that one of the pigs scared off a voluptuous and willing 17- or 18-year-old girl, and then beat the pig for it.
Records at the Greene County Assessor's Office show the property was owned by Natural Pork Production II LLP of Iowa until Aug. 18, and then was transferred to MowMar LLP of Fairmont, Minn.
Lynn Becker, an owner of MowMar, called the abuses on the video "completely intolerable, reprehensible. We condemn these types of acts. If any animals were abused in the brief time we've owned the farm, if we still employ these people, any attempt will made to investigate and initiate corrective action immediately."
Becker said his company provided animal welfare training to the staff when it took over the farm.
Natural Pork Production II referred questions to AMVC Management Services, which managed the farm under its ownership. Mark Jones, AMVC's network manager, said the video showed "unacceptable practices" and that his company is working with the new ownership to investigate.
Craven, the Hormel spokeswoman, said the farm became a Hormel supplier only after the change in ownership, and that MowMar "shares our commitment to animal welfare and humane handling."
Craven said it was her understanding that the abuses took place before the change in ownership. But PETA's Friedrich said the abuses continued, and that the new manager abused animals by shocking and kicking pigs.***CONTINUES An Iowa sheriff said Wednesday he has launched an investigation into a videotape showing abuse of pigs at a farm. ... more -
Pigs ruled the world 260 million years ago: Study
Scientists from Leeds University have discovered that the world was ruled by pig-like creatures for a million years.
The “Age of the Porcine” occurred around 260 million years ago - when the creatures called lystrosaurs were the few survivors of a mass extinction.
Nearly 95 pct of the living species were destroyed by a series of volcanic eruptions leaving behind pigs in a “golden age” of no predators.
They had Earth’s abundant plant-life all to themselves.
“We can only speculate on how lystrosaurs survived while the rest died.
Perhaps its ability to burrow and hibernate protected it from the worst
periods,” The Sun quoted Professor Paul Wignall of Leeds University, as saying “The remarkable thing about the lystrosaurs was their size.
“Nothing else that big seems to have got through the destruction - and that is why they were able to dominate Earth for so long. They fed and spread.
“We think there were billions of them. Their fossils are everywhere,” he added Lystrosaurs were similar in size to modern pigs, with snouts and small tusks for rooting around in vegetation. Scientists from Leeds University have discovered that the world was ruled by pig-like creatures for a million years. ... more -
Road hog: Vegetarian driver suffers pig nightmare on motorway
The sight of a truckload of pigs headed for the sausage factory proved too much to bear for a German vegetarian woman who lost control of her vehicle as a result. Unfortunately, she crashed into another truck carrying pigs.
A vegetarian woman driving down a motorway in Germany was so traumatized at the sight of a truck loaded with pigs that she lost control of her vehicle and careered into another truck, which was also filled with pigs, police said.
"The woman found herself driving next to a large pig transport truck and the sight of the pitiful animals made her feel so sick that she jerked her steering wheel and started swerving," police in the western town of Gütersloh said in a statement released on Thursday.
"The result of her swerving was that the woman's van struck the side of another truck … which was also loaded with live pigs. The woman suffered little more than a fright but we were unable to ascertain anything about the state of the pig's health," police said. The sight of a truckload of pigs headed for the sausage factory proved too much to bear for a German vegetarian woman who lost control... more -
'Lipstick pig' row hits Obama
Barack Obama has accused his Republican rivals of stirring "phoney outrage" after claims that he had likened John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, to a pig with lipstick.... more...more
Pitbulls, pigs and plastic dolls in this hillarious circus called the presidential election... if it wasn't funny it would be boaring... ahem. Barack Obama has accused his Republican rivals of stirring "phoney outrage" after claims that he had likened John McCain... more -
Foreclosure Finds One Pot-Bellied Pig In A Crisis
"Moogy" The Fort Lauderdale Pig Loses Home In Housing Crunch
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― Moogy is about three years old and housetrained. His former owners foreclosed on their South Florida home and could no longer keep him.
Michelle Frier, adoption supervisor at the Wildlife Care Center, said "They were heartbroken - to have to give him up, and I think, he was heartbroken to be back here because he's back in the barn."
In October 2005, the same animal rescue center found him on the side of the road in Plantation, Florida, when he was six months old.
A month went by when a young couple, recently engaged, came in and adopted him, where he took on the role of an indoor pet. But along came the American housing crisis, and the couple's loss of their home meant the loss of their pig.
So the black Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig is up for adoption at The SPCA Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale for a small adoption of $50.
To contact the SPCA Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale, please visit: http://www.wildcare.org/ "Moogy" The Fort Lauderdale Pig Loses Home In Housing Crunch ... more -
Hardcore Electro meets a Jamaican slaughterhouse // THE SYSTEM
The System by Waterhouse artist Terry Lynn is the first music video combining the efforts of The Rickards Brothers and is meant to serve as a hard introduction to the creative abilities of the team.
The System was shot on location in Porus, Jamaica utilising HD video and Rickards' still-photography techniques.
The composition, texture and use of natural light in The System is intentionally similar to a series of photographs taken by Rickards in 2007 known as 'Friday Morning Market'.
The photographs from this series documented a day in the life of a typical slaughterhouse located at the back of a community market in rural Jamaica.
In The System, the struggling of doomed animals, the brutality and indifference of the butchers and the slaughterhouse itself will be presented as a series of visual metaphors that relate to the lyrics in Lynn's song.
To be precise, the violence and nonchalance of the killers are direct references to the police while the pigs are a clear reference to the victims of police violence within a seemingly inescapable garrison - the slaughterhouse.
Artist: Terry Lynn
www.kingstonlogic.com
Album: Kingstonlogic 2.0
Phree Music/Last GangRecords
www.phreemusic.com
www.lastgangrecords.com 2008
Directed by the Rickards Bros.
www.afflictedyard.com The System by Waterhouse artist Terry Lynn is the first music video combining the efforts of The Rickards Brothers and is meant to ser... more -
Tattooed Louis Vuitton pig
AVANT garde or plain bizarre? Shanghai art lovers can decide for themselves when they view eight live pigs bearing tattoos at the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair starting Monday.
The tattooed pigs, two of them with Louis Vuitton logos, will form part of an exhibit titled "Art Farm" by 43-year-old Belgian conceptual artist Wim Delvoye.
The artist has often generated controversy with his unconventional projects.
Delvoye had tattooed the designs on the animals when they were piglets and tracked the "canvases" as they grew.
The stage is now set for these unique exhibits in Shanghai. A large pigsty will be set up at the fountain square of Shanghai Exhibition Center, where the eight pigs will be put up for display.
Delvoye brought the pigs from Europe and has kept them in a farm near Beijing. They were displayed at a Beijing art show, triggering widespread concern and controversy.
The live pigs will not be sold now since they are "artistic works," but their skin could be auctioned at a high price after the pigs' death, according to Tian Tian of Xin Beijing Art Gallery. The gallery is acting as the agent for "Art Farm."
Agent Tian Tian said the eight pigs will be airlifted to Shanghai on September 8. AVANT garde or plain bizarre? Shanghai art lovers can decide for themselves when they view eight live pigs bearing tattoos at the Shan... more -
These little piggies went to Beijing, and got tattooed!
For his latest art-installation, Beijing-based Belgium artist, Wim Delvoye, wanted to set up a temporary pig-pen in the Shanghai Exhibition Centre and fill it with his little piggies. But these are no ordinary pigs, for these are tattooed pigs, two of which are sporting Louis Vuitton designs.
The exhibition centre has agreed to put on the installation so long as the pigs don't kick up too much of a bad stink.
The artist reportedly shipped the pigs in from Europe for his 'Art Farm' project and gave them their tats when they were still small.
"Seeing the art pieces growing along with the pigs was an amazing thing." For his latest art-installation, Beijing-based Belgium artist, Wim Delvoye, wanted to set up a temporary pig-pen in the Shanghai Exhib... more -
Pig Ugly?
Sometimes you read a story about an animal that touches your heart, restores your faith in the world and makes you go "Awwwwwwww". This isn't one of those stories. Sometimes you read a story about an animal that touches your heart, restores your faith in the world and makes you go "Awwwwwwww&... more
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Police Raid Maryland Mayor's Home, Seize Drugs, Kill His Dogs -
A small town mayor whose house was raided and dogs were killed by police appears to be an innocent victim of a drug smuggling scheme, authorities said.
Police kicked in the door and stormed the home of the mayor of Berwyn Heights, Maryland, shooting two black Labradors and seizing an unopened package with 32 pounds of marijuana inside. But the drugs evidently did not belong to him or his wife.
Police say Cheye Calvo and his wife appeared to be victims of a plan by two men to smuggle millions of dollars worth of marijuana by having it delivered to about a half-dozen unsuspecting recipients.
The two men under arrest include a FedEx package deliveryman; investigators said the deliveryman would drop off a package outside a home, and the other man would come by a short time later and pick it up.
A furious Calvo said Thursday that he and his wife, Trinity Tomsic, are asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the July 29 raid.
"Trinity was an innocent victim and random victim," Calvo said outside his two-story, red-brick house in this middle-class Washington suburb of about 3,000 people. "We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us."
Calvo insisted the couple's dogs were gentle creatures and said police apparently killed them "for sport," gunning down one of them as it was running away.
"Our dogs were our children," said the 37-year-old Calvo. "They were the reason we bought this house because it had a big yard for them to run in."
The mayor, who was changing his clothes when police burst in, also complained that he was handcuffed in his boxer shorts for about two hours along with his mother-in-law, and said the officers did not believe him when he told them he was the mayor. No charges were brought against Calvo or his wife, who came home in the middle of the raid.
Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High said Wednesday that Calvo and his family were "most likely ... innocent victims," but he would not rule out their involvement, and he defended the way the raid was conducted. He and other officials did not apologize for killing the dogs, saying the officers felt threatened.
Police announced Wednesday they had arrested two men suspected in a plot to smuggle 417 pounds (189 kilograms) of marijuana, and seized a total of $3.6 million in pot. Investigators said the package that arrived on Calvo's porch had been sent from Los Angeles via FedEx, and they had been tracking it ever since it drew the attention of a drug-sniffing dog in Arizona.
Police intercepted it in Maryland, and an undercover detective posing as a deliveryman took it to the Calvo home.
Calvo's defenders — including the Berwyn Heights police chief, who said his department should have been alerted ahead of time — said police had no right to enter the home without knocking.
more click on link.... A small town mayor whose house was raided and dogs were killed by police appears to be an innocent victim of a drug smuggling scheme, ... more -
Cool Jobs: Forensic Entomologist
Discovery-News.com: Maggots? Flies? Corpses? All in a grisly day’s work for a forensic entomologist. James Williams gets the gritty details. Discovery-News.com: Maggots? Flies? Corpses? All in a grisly day’s work for a forensic entomologist. James Williams gets the gritty de... more
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Big Pig
Several thousand people line the streets to watch as "Woinic," a giant wild boar sculpture by artist Eric Sleziak, is pulled by a truck on Tuesday on a street in Bogny-sur-Meuse in northeastern France. The monumental piece, shaped over 11 years, is being transfered to a resting area in the town of Saulces-Monclin-Faissault, where the 50-ton sculpture will be set along the highway as the symbol of the Ardennes region. Tuesday's journey took about 11 hours to complete. Several thousand people line the streets to watch as "Woinic," a giant wild boar sculpture by artist Eric Sleziak, is pulled... more
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How farmers still bring home the bacon
"Beset by problems, British farmers are toughing it out, and the Royal Show is where they find new ways to survive ..."
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