Pig suppliers in central China have been force-feeding pigs with mud to make them heavier by as much as 20kg before selling them

TV exposé shows ‘pigs force-fed with mud’ to fetch higher price

THE STAR

A worker shown pumping the mixture into a pig’s mouth in the television report. Photo: Hunan ETV.

BEIJING: Pig suppliers in central China have been force-feeding pigs with mud to make them heavier by as much as 20kg before selling them for a higher profit, according to a Chinese TV report.

Residents in Yangjiaqiao town near Xiangtan in Hunan province told the local broadcaster Hunan ETV they had heard pigs in a supply station nearby making “unusual, shrill cries of distress”. The pig station in a remote area of the town transfers live animals to different slaughterhouses.

Footage from ETV shows one man controlling a pump connecting a bucket of mud to a pipe inside a pig’s mouth.

Pigs with mud pumped into them were shown with bulkier stomachs after two minutes of the mistreatment and swayed as they walked. Some were even filmed falling to the ground.

The mixture fed to the pigs. Photo: Hunan ETV.

The yellow mud fed to the pigs was a mixture of white clay, water and bran, the report said..

Suppliers could sell the heavier pigs for an additional 220 yuan (RM142) or more, according to the TV station.

The local authorities have inspected the site and taken away mud samples and ill-treated pigs with purple patches on their skin.

Another pig station in the same town has also been found feeding animals with mud, the report said. – South China Morning Post