Stop Michigan DNR From Slaughtering Heritage Pig Breeds
- by: Linda Tyson
- recipient: Michigan Department of Natural Resources director, Rodney A. Stokes, and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder
Effective April 1st, The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has ordered the shooting of heritage-breed pigs on family farms as part of a new "Invasive Species Order" targeting not only feral pigs, but also traditional pig livestock, based on hair color and other physical traits . DNR director Rodney A. Stokes is the decision maker, demanding traditional heritage-breed pigs be shot, and Michigan ranchers be arrested and charged as felons if they resist.
The order requires the senseless slaughter of pregnant sows and newborn piglets along with all other pigs on these farms based on a set of physical characteristics, such as straight ears, hair color, dark snouts, and a tendency toward stripes in baby pigs - characteristics common to heritage-breed pigs as well as wild boars.
This order could destroy family farms and take away consumers’ choice to purchase naturally-raised pork fed a natural diet, free of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) antibiotics, Paylean, and other questionable substances. These farmers raise their livestock under humane conditions, unlike industrial CAFO-style farms raising pigs in confinement and subjecting pregnant sows to gestation crates where they are condemned to a life of misery in crates so small they can't even turn around.
The State of Michigan should be taking steps to protect family farms, organic, and heritage production, While we understand feral hogs can cause destruction to crops and wildlife habitat and can spread disease, livestock on properly-contained pasturing family farms are not feral and should not be included in the order. Please tell the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to stop this order to slaughter heritage pig breeds on farms.
Dear Director Stokes and Governor Snyder,
Please revise Michigan's "Invasive Species Order" so it does not target domesticated, heritage-breed pigs being raised on Michigan's family farms.
The pig in the photo accompanying this petition is a Tamworth, raised on a family farm in Illinois, who roams pasture freely, roots in the mud, eats a wholesome, natural, GMO-free diet, takes mud baths whenever he likes, and enjoys getting his back scratched by the farmer who cares for him. He is not a feral pig. He is an example of one the oldest breeds of domestic pigs, dating back to the early 1800's. Tamworths, and many other heritage breeds are particulary well-suited to pasture life in climates with cold winters., But now under new Michigan law they will all be shot by the DNR, and the farmers who raise them will be subject to arrest on felony charges.
CAFO swine are genetically engineered to live unnatural lives in confinement. If Michigan's heritage breed pigs are destroyed and farmers are denied the right to legally own them, farmers' livelihoods will be destroyed. Pigs genetically designed for CAFO life are not bred to withstand cold winters and can not replace heritage breeds currently raised on Michigan pastures.
Heritage pigs are domestic pigs bred to be particularly well-suited to pasture life in the care of responsible family farmers. These pigs are humanely cared-for, are not on the loose in the wild, and are in no way a threat to Michigan's natural resources or its citizens. The DNR order demands the slaughter of pregnant sows and newborn piglets along with all other pigs on these farms with no compensation to the farmers whose livelihoods will be destroyed, based on a set of physical characteristics, such as straight ears, hair color, dark snouts, and a tendency toward stripes in baby pigs - characteristics common to heritage-breed pigs, . Please revise Michigan's "Invasive Species Order" and allow Michigan's pasturing farmers to continue caring for their livestock and their customers.
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