Aug20
PETA Asks North Carolina Governor to Turn Prison Into Pig Empathy Museum
Posted at 10:06 AM | Permalink
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Comments (23)
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So, naturally, when we heard that a prison in McLeansville, North Carolina, was slated for closure, we quickly dispatched a letter to Governor Bev Purdue to ask for her help in turning the soon-to-be-mothballed slammer into the world's first pig empathy museum.
The new museum would be a win-win: It would provide much-needed jobs, plus it would help people better understand pigs and the suffering that factory farms cause them. Visitors could then put what they've learned into practice by enjoying meatless "riblets" or other vegetarian fare, and the kids would take home one of our "Animals Are My Friends" T-shirts.
We think that once people get to know pigs—when people see that pigs are smart, sensitive, and generally adorable—they won't stand idly by when innocent oinkers are treated like hardened criminals.
Posted by Jeff Mackey
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Pig...empathy...museums...It sounds like a phrase Joe Biden would write. I am trying to take this seriously, but I am failing at it. Just...yeah.
Posted by: Edward | August 20, 2009 10:50 AM
great idea peta, c'mon mrs perdue please agree, this would be a great move for the pigs. peta post a link enabling us to also ask her to do this, numbers speak volumes.
Posted by: emma | August 20, 2009 11:25 AM
How long do you think those jobs created my this museum would last? Your museum would be a private venture and therefore would have to, if not turn a profit, break even. i just don't think people will pay to see the graphic films of slaughter houses, or plates of gray sliced tofu with grill marks that is supposed to pass for ribs.
Posted by: Tom | August 20, 2009 11:51 AM
Why just pigs? How about an all animal empathy museum?
One of the features could be a "Hall Of Shame" with pictures (maybe their booking photos) of people, both fameous and non-fameous, who were convicted of animal cruelty and the sentences they served.
Posted by: Rev. Meg Schramm | August 20, 2009 12:56 PM
This is a GREAT IDEA. After seeing video of pig farm factories, I will never eat meat again. I cried rivers and have been sick over it.
It affected more than seal clubbing and Michael Vick-I now sponsor a pig at the farm sanctuary.
I will also be writing a letter to the governer of NC and President Obama should become a vegetarian to set an example to the country.
Posted by: Pamela Ernest | August 20, 2009 01:09 PM
This is a GREAT IDEA. After seeing video of pig farm factories, I will never eat meat again. I cried rivers and have been sick over it.
It affected more than seal clubbing and Michael Vick-I now sponsor a pig at the farm sanctuary.
I will also be writing a letter to the governer of NC and President Obama should become a vegetarian to set an example to the country.
Posted by: Pamela Ernest | August 20, 2009 01:11 PM
Mark Sanford ain't exactly a role model, Pamela. Obama needs to work on health care, and then he can worry about vegetables. A pig empathy museum...I have heard stranger things.
Posted by: Edward | August 20, 2009 03:13 PM
Ooh. That is such a great idea. If it does or does not get built, people should build some in other places of the world. And you know what? That would be a great place to go on school trips to :D
Posted by: Sophiya | August 20, 2009 04:25 PM
AWW! This is a great idea, I hate animal abuse, & this would be a great way to educate people better!
Posted by: Matt Greenwood![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blog.peta.org/nav-commenters.gif)
| August 20, 2009 04:44 PM
It would also be nice if all the "Christian" hunters in North Carolina would cease and desist from irreverently maiming, crippling and killing God's creatures.
Posted by: Brien Comerford | August 20, 2009 08:39 PM
this is what this country.... a bunch of 17ed up people my god have mercy on us
Posted by: Jimbo | August 20, 2009 10:17 PM
I live in NC, and while I am a vegetarian, I do think if we put more pig farmers out of business, NC is going to suffer even worse than it already is. We can't even afford to keep our schools within a reasonable class limit, Governor Perdue has more important things to worry about than a Pig Empathy Museum.
Posted by: Jordan Brown | August 21, 2009 09:13 AM
This will def attract tourists! I think it will do great in educating the world, not just the US.
Posted by: Linda | August 21, 2009 09:33 AM
we wouldn't need so much healthcare, Edward, if America stopped consuming fattening, disease ridden, anti-biotic fed meat from farm factories. Not to mention green house gas emission.
Posted by: Pamela Ernest | August 21, 2009 09:52 AM
Edward - just a quick note, Mark Sanford is the governor of South Carolina, not North.
On the idea of the "pig empathy" museum, I agree with Rev. Schramm. If you're going to do it, why not do it for all animals who are abused on these farms.
Posted by: Carrie | August 21, 2009 12:18 PM
I do think that this is a fantastic idea, and I am, in fact, intrigued. May I ask for more details as to what this museum may entail?
You have quite a task ahead of you. Keep in mind that the masses tend to pursue means that keep them ignorant from the truth. It may be difficult to convince the hardcore "meat eaters" to spend their time caring about the perils they're supporting. I get that a lot here ... the blatant speciesism. It would be a great idea to hit public schools and push for an educational field trip. When you offer lunch and introduction to a new culture, the schools may appreciate the opportunity.
You just need to establish some sort of contact, so if the impressionable little ones come home saying "Mommy, I want to be a vegetarian," there's an entire, peaceful, vegan/vegetarian society that will present the facts and information in case Mommy says "No."
Definitely promote parent chaperones.
For those of you saying that the museum should be for all creatures, you need to consider that focusing on one animal will make the experience more authentic. In addition, pigs are VERY close evolutionarily to humans. The most heart-wrenching sound can be hearing that pained squeal ...
Besides, after people become informed on one type of transgression, they may seek information on additional ones.
It's definitely cool to serve vegan foods at the museum, but after that hellish experience, do you think anyone is going to want to consume something that even mimics pork? I'm not entirely sure, but kind of curious. Tofu is an excellent idea, and as for the ribletts, that would work if newly-informed population required the assurance that they needn't sacrifice the taste they've grown to love.
Keep us posted on your progress. I wish you the best of luck
Posted by: Tyler | August 21, 2009 01:54 PM
What a great idea! I live in Franklinton, NC. Why didn't I think of something like this?
I truly hope this works out.
Posted by: Margo Raprager | August 21, 2009 04:52 PM
And Charlotte's Wilbur could get a home there, too.
SOME PIG!!!! she wove.
Posted by: Robert Evans | August 21, 2009 05:11 PM
GREAT IDEA! Maybe eventually we can open cow, chicken, and turkey empathy museums, too...
Posted by: Bunny | August 22, 2009 03:04 AM
If this museum does get built, may I suggest a trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., or the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles for ideas on how to set up exhibits? For example, the Museum of Tolerance has visitors enter a concentration camp...3D mural on the far wall showing a panorama of a camp in winter, air conditioning set to teeth chattering, and visitors walk through a gate featuring the motto, "Work Makes You Free." Something like this could be done to simulate entering a slaughter house, complete with an employee (or manniquin) holding a stun gun
wih the sound effects of one being fired, shackles circling above, recorded sounds of machinery and screaming victims, and a 3D mural wrapping around the entire exhibit featuring the dissembly process.
That would certainly make me think differently about those neat packages of meat in the supermarket.
Posted by: Rev. Meg Schramm | August 22, 2009 01:40 PM
hey edward are you doing something that helps out animals i don't think so if you don't like peta is saying then don't listen to it at all ok
besides animals should get help i know you don't want to be slaughtered and mistreated for you meat ok
Posted by: rebbca214 | August 22, 2009 11:24 PM
anybody seen pinky. she was behind the coustore in escondido yesterday
Posted by: pat ciochetto | August 25, 2009 10:50 AM
anybody seen pinky. that effort has nothing to do with this
Posted by: pat ciochetto | August 25, 2009 10:51 AM