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

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