Chinese truck driver slaughters ‘naughty’ pig on roadside

Motorists in eastern China were horrified last week after seeing an irate truck driver butcher a live pig “for being naughty” on the side of a busy road.

The incident happened on Thursday afternoon as the man was transporting the animals from the city of Laiwu to a slaughterhouse in Zhucheng, Shandong province, Qilu Evening News reported on Sunday, citing traffic police.

During the three-hour journey, the driver, who was not named, became aware that one of the pigs had become restless and was “harassing” the other animals. When a fight broke out between them, he pulled his truck over into the emergency lane to investigate, the report said.

After identifying the “troublemaker”, the driver noticed that the hog was limping and covered in bruises and bite marks, probably inflicted by its irritated travelling companions. Fearing the situation would only worsen as the journey continued, he decided on a drastic course of action, the report said.

After unloading the unruly pig from the truck, he set about butchering it on the roadside, much to the disgust of passing motorists who witnessed the animal’s blood and innards spilling out onto the tarmac.

The barbaric slaughter was accompanied by the sounds of the pig’s screams and led to several people calling the police to complain.

By the time officers from the local traffic division arrived, the truck driver was in the process of gutting the dead animal, the report said.

He was quoted as telling the police that if any of the animals were injured he would not get a good price for them, and so took the decision to remove the troublesome beast form the truck before it did any more damage to his cargo and finances.

Although the driver was guilty of several traffic offences, including occupying an emergency lane without good reason, killing an animal on a busy highway and not putting up a warning sign, the police let him go with only a caution, on the condition he cleaned up the mess he had made.