The Bacon & Porkchop Show

Another link from the editor of Porkopolis, this time to an animal act called the Bacon and Porkchop Show. According to an article in the Greeley, Colorado Tribune (here), John Vincent's performing pot-bellied pigs have been on the road for fifteen years. Although the pig known as Bacon died last year (see photo at right of Bacon raising the American flag), he has been replaced by a rescued pig called Mudslinger. The act also features a chocolate lab and five trained parrots. Vincent apparently uses popcorn to motivate his pigs (recall that oreo cookies seem to be the universal treat in pig racing setups) and notes that "Pigs, like most animals and humans, are products of their environment. If you're nice when you train them, they'll be nice pigs." This, of course, reminds me that I still have to create a post about pig training methods going back to William Frederick Pinchbeck and his 1805 book The Expositor. You can find more information about Vincent's show at the Top Hogs, Dogs, and Parrots site.

"Pig Racing is a Lot Like Life"

NPR's Weekend Edition ran a nice end-of-summer piece about pig races at the Montgomery County Fair that you can listen to here. There's a good interview with Cody and Gabrielle Boger, proprietors of the Ham Bone Express pig races. I find it interesting that in all the pig races I've heard of the "prizes" the pigs are racing for are invariably oreo cookies. Cody Boger notes that they use two-month-old Yorkshires that they return to the farmer at the end of the season.

Thanks to Lisa for tipping me off about this story.
Photo by Laura Krantz, NPR.

Greased Pig Chases

Despite looking around a bit, I have no idea how long greased pig chases have been going on. I've found an 1859 engraving by Richard Doyle of a greased pig chase (see it for yourself here) but not much other information about them. I remember seeing one myself at a festival at Stone Mountain back in the 1970s, but I haven't seen or heard of one since. This is perhaps more due to the fact that I have lived in cities all my life, as the greased pig contests I've read about on-line have all taken place at rural fairs and gatherings. For example, this image was taken at the Alger County Fair in Chatham, Michigan in August 2005. (The original can be found here.)

There have been several successful protests against this treatment of pigs. In fact, according to PETA, greased pig chases are illegal in Minnesota and Rhode Island. (See their "Ax Animal Acts" page here at PETA Kids.) As they note in their Get Active Center (here), "Pigs are intelligent, social animals with high cognitive ability. Being chased around or mishandled by participants in raucous greased-pig contests is terrifying for them." I would surmise, then, that these animal entertainments are on the way out and are certainly less likely to be found in urban and suburban areas. Yet one can find advice on how to compete in one of these contests on line as well. In a "how-to" Wiki (here) someone has provided a list of the eight steps involved in catching a greased pig. This advice is also appended: "Chasing a greased pig is a cruel sport for the animal. make sure you're aware of the ethics of such an event before participating. However, also bear in mind the event probably has a significant cultural or traditional origin, so be careful about admonishing people about it."

Girls Gone Hog-Wrestling in Indiana

I wasn't sure whether greased pig chases and hog wrestling still existed as regular events at summer fairs and festivals, but at least the latter does. The Evansville (Indiana) Courier and Press (here) recently ran a photo essay about the hog wrestling competition for girls sixteen and under that was held at the Gibson County Fair. Apparently a team of four girls has 60 seconds to capture a hog in a mud pit and put it in a barrel.

The article followed the exploits of four 12-year-olds who competed under the team name "Pork Dorks." They managed to get their pig into the barrel in 58 seconds, just under the deadline. 21 other teams participated, but I could find no account of the winning time or of how many teams managed to beat the clock. There was also no evidence of any protests about this event, which certainly has the potential to be stressful and harmful to the pig.

Scanning the web there appear to have been a number of greased pig chases at 4th of July events. More about some of those (and animal activists' efforts to end these entertainments) later...