Of Walruses and Pigs

In my blog of August 21, 2018 I made a comment as to Esther the pig and the extraordinary amount of social media attention she has received. I was trying to make the point that it felt as if the world was more than a little bit weird when someone could raise over $640,000.00 to ensure that a pig got an advance level of medical attention while at the same time we collectively argue about how much medical support a child in the far north can receive. It was not a particularly pithy blog. I did little reading about Esther and assumed that her story was an anomaly.

Apparently I was wrong to take Esther and her story so lightly. In the September issue of The Walrus - a Canadian magazine that presents itself as a magazine that encourages thinking - there was a nine page celebratory article (including one, two page picture and 2 half page pictures) on Esther and the two people who take care of her and a handful of other animals which have been rescued from fates worse than death. Only those who are new to the world of not eating meat and are therefore still in their evangelistic phase would find this article unbiased or quite frankly that interesting.


As I read the article I became even more upset/angry/frustrated than I had been before. I understand the desire to preach about what has become important to you - I am quite sure when I stopped eating meat forty plus years ago I was probably unbearable in my enthusiasm. I am sure that for the two people who have managed to create and support a lifestyle based on one pig, it all feels quite wonderful. For all of those who have sent in the thousands and thousands of dollars to both buy the scanning machine to look at the insides of Esther and other medically privileged large animals (it is worth noting that the scanning machine is primarily used on horses that are worth more money than any of our houses), and to support the farm, I am sure that they feel as if they have done something good. They feel this because they get to see cute pictures of animals with clever names living in a serene setting. They get to feel good because the pictures on Facebook convince them that they are part of a large group of friends who all believe the same thing. They, because of the feel good nature of the page, get to feel as if they are making a difference.

Really???

I don't want to infect reality on those people but keeping one pig alive does nothing to stop the cruel slaughter of millions of pigs that are eaten by humans in North America each year (https://www.statista.com/statistics/263964/number-of-pigs-in-selected-countries/). If they are at all serious about reducing the amount of suffering caused by humans on animals - there are a hundred things they can do including spaying their pets and stop eating all meat. We should do those things not because some animals are cuter or smarter (according the Walrus, pigs may be as smart as a three year old child) than others but because we think it is the right thing to do.


But whether or not we eat meat or not is not the real question. In a world where we clearly state that there is a finite amount of resources to address problems, where it is constantly being articulated that that we as a people lack the capacity to fix all of the problems all at once -why do we spend our charitable dollars supporting two people and their hobby farm when we all have neighbours who are struggling, where almost every town and city in the country (except for Medicine Hat, Alberta https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/medicine-hat-homeless-free-update-1.3949030) have people who are chronically homeless, where some people can not afford to access all parts of the health care system, where communities spend decades on "boil water" advisories, or where children do not have equal access to a high quality education.

Our failure to address these issues (not solve- just recognize that they should be our priorities) while wasting our time and money on selfish, feel good ventures will define what the future thinks of us far more than how we supported one pig and those who benefit by looking after her.