Trash-fed pigs sold for food: report
Villagers in Lanzhou, Gansu province, had been feeding hundreds of pigs at rubbish dumps and then selling them as food, according to media reports.
The illegal rearing of the animals was taking place in several villages, gansudaily.com reported.
A male villager said it was becoming common practice in the village because of the lucrative profit margin.
'Rearing pigs with rubbish does not need any capital at all. The piglets would be happy with waste water and all kinds of dirt, and after a few months they are plump enough to sell for good money. These practices should be condemned, they are polluting the village. The rubbish and pigs are an unpleasant sight, and they smell awful,'' he said.
'These pigs are also posing a deadly threat to public health as their flesh can carry toxins or viruses,'' he added.
The report featured photographs of the pigs feasting on heaps of garbage and said there were about 200 animals in each site.
The pigs were being sold in a local market, which provided meat for restaurants, the report said.
Health authorities in Lanzhou denied knowledge of the garbage-fed pigs, saying no complaints had been received.
