Another Factory Farm Fire Claims Thousands of Lives

Yet another barn fire has killed thousands of animals. CBS Minnesota reports that a hog farm in southern Minnesota caught fire this week, killing around 4,000 sows, and between 6,000 and 7,000 piglets.

According to the CBS affiliate, “Roughly 50 percent of the hog farm was destroyed by the fire, that took the help of 10 responding agencies from across Martin County to get under control.

This factory farm is owned by Pipestone System, a company that came under fire after a Mercy For Animals undercover investigation documented horrific animal abuse.

During the investigation, workers were caught violently slamming conscious piglets headfirst against the ground, ripping off their tails and testicles without painkillers, hitting, throwing, and dropping pigs and piglets, and confining pregnant pigs in filthy, fly-infested gestation crates barely larger than their own bodies for nearly their entire lives.


And to make matters worse, when pressed to add sprinklers to the requirements for facilities like this, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) fought tooth and nail against it.

According to the National Fire Protection Organization, the chief environmental counsel for the NPPC “argues sprinkler installation costs would serve as an added burden to pork farmers. Since their barns are typically metal with concrete floors — facilities where fires are rare. … [R]equiring sprinkler protection might not justify the actual fire risk.

With tens of thousands of animals being burned alive each year, it’s obvious that factory farmers’ top priority is money, not animal welfare. As long as that is the case, animals will pay the price with their lives.

To withdraw your support from an industry that treats animals like objects, get your FREE Vegetarian Starter Guide here.