Pigs are intelligent, aware creatures, with an intellect comparable to that of dogs. Factory farmed pigs spend their lives in intensive confinement, painfully restricted to a crate that is 18 to 24 inches wide.
Under these conditions pigs resort to biting each other, usually one another's tails. Farmers respond by cutting off the pigs' tails, while boars' noses are broken to keep them from fighting.
Sows are turned into living reproduction machines, artificially inseminated on "rape racks" when they are just six to eight months old. Pregnancy lasts about four months, yielding litter of approximately a dozen piglets. Against all natural instinct, the sow is forced to tend to her young in a pen on a bare cement floor, scarcely large enough to hold her body. The piglets only suckle for a few weeks and she is quickly impregnated again. She will breed four to seven more litters before being sold for slaughter.
Rescued farm pigs often have short life spans because their genetically-altered bodies cannot handle the strain of their massive weight on such frail legs. They were never meant to live "normal" lives and must endure bodies manipulated by science and greed. Some are unable to walk more than a hundred feet without having to stop and rest. The natural lifespan of a pig is 10-15 years. Sows generally live for 3-4 years.
