Some Pigs Are More Equal Than Others

Big Ag shall not be threatened.

"The mangalitsa pig is different than other pigs. For one thing, it’s covered in thick wool, like a sheep. It’s got upright ears, and a flat tail. The farmers at Michigan’s Baker’s Green Acres are fond of the pig. The thick fur protects them from harsh Michigan winters, and their status as a ‘lard’ pig means that customers prize their marbled meat. They grunt, they eat, and they care for their young just like any other domesticated swine. In short, they’re just regular pigs -- that happen to have black fur.

To Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the black-furred pigs are a threat that must be eliminated. A law passed in 2010, set to go into effect on April 1, 2012, outlaws the mangalitsa, and many other pigs that don’t fall within their guidelines:

“Possession of the following live species, including a hybrid or genetic variant of the species, and/or offspring of the species or of a hybrid or genetically engineered variant, is prohibited:

(b) Wild boar, wild hog, wild swine, feral pig, feral hog, feral swine, Old world swine, razorback, eurasian wild boar, Russian wild boar (Sus scrofa Linnaeus). This subsection does not and is not intended to affect sus domestica involved in domestic hog production.”

Possession of just one of these animals carries a felony penalty, punishable by up to four years in prison. And the vague language of the law, not clearly outlining which pigs exactly are feral pigs (it hinges on some tricky pig taxonomy), means that determination will be at the discretion of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Farmers’ questions have gone unanswered in public forums -- they are encouraged to approach the DNR privately bearing pictures of their pigs for the perusal of DNR agents, who will then determine whether the pigs are ‘feral’ or not.

Feral, it turns out, probably means anything not raised on an industrial farm."