On the day of the pig

An Austrian eatson average. on average each year34 kg of pork. The demand for pork for domestic consumption is covered, Austrian farms also produce pork for export. Almost 200,000 tonnes of cheaper pork are also imported into Austria from abroad.
This exchange of imported and exported meat also has to do with the fact that Austrians prefer lean pork, while fatty cuts of pork, as well as the snout, ears and feet, are hardly used in domestic cuisine, whereas Chinese cuisine favours precisely these parts of pork.
Overall, the most important importer of Austrian pork is Italy, followed by China and South Korea.

Pigs are super noses and the snout is their organ of touch

Pigs have more olfactory cells than dogs in their fine noses and are better at detecting odours,than humans. They can smell roots or truffles up to 50cm underground. Pigs are intelligent mammals and can also be used to sniff out explosives or detect various drugs.
In addition to a keen sense of smell, the sense of touch is important for pigs to explore their surroundings. The proboscis disc contains at least as many tactile cells as both human hands can feel together.

In a fattening farm, the pig's cognitive abilities are irrelevant

Pigs are not dirty and they don’t stink either. However, they can only do this if they can lie in a generously littered straw bed. There is no straw on the fully slatted floors of pig farms. Here it stinks of bad-smelling digestive gases, the floors are slippery, the pigs injure their legs, their skin and respiratory organs are damaged and: they suffer mental agony.

A pig farmer of this kind is not interested in the welfare of the pigs. He is interested in meaty rearing and filling the supermarket refrigerated shelves with cheap, stressed meat after slaughter.
The majority of pigs live in highly mechanised fattening farms where no attention is paid to the emotions and intelligence of the pig. On fattening farms, the aim is to use antibiotics and growth hormones to get pigletsto the pointthat they reach the desired weightas quickly as possible, that they reach the desired weight as quickly as possible so that hundreds of them can then be transported in huge transporters to slaughterhouses in the south or east under terrible conditions. Numerous“live animal transports”become a death trap for many animals at the same time, because they die due to the appalling conditions during transport.

There is no such thing as a "stupid sow" - a sow is smart

During her studies at the Messerli Institute, Aiderbichl vet Dr Marianne Wondrak recognised the special socio-cognitive abilities of the Kune Kune pigs. The Clever Pig Lab’s Kune Kune group has been living at Gut Aiderbichl in Henndorf for several years now, where all the carers and visitors have fallen head over heels in love with these wonderful pigs. The pigs have a spacious barn with the opportunity to visit their huge free-range meadow at any time or to wallow in the mud and simply be happy.

The work with the Kune Kune pigs also continues at Gut Aiderbichl. Their social network and social tactics are observed, who is in contact with whom, who is likeable to whom and who is not? Some pigs are sociable, while others like to be alone.

Pigs have different personalities and are fascinating

As different as the children in a school class, the kune Kune Pigs from the Clever Pig Lab. Pigs are ambitious, lazy, some are cuddly bears others are rascals.
Im Pig Lab provedthe pigs, that they can categorise images using visual stimuli. This is despite the fact that pigs are saidnot to be able to see well. In the pig labthe pigs were shown different images. The people in thesephotoshad different hair colours, hairstyles and skin tones. Even if it seems incredible, but the kune kunepigs made different subdivisions: theyhave categorised the appearance in the photofor exampleby Gesibased on what they have seen.

Pigs can guess puzzles

Dr Marianne Wondrak is always practising new things with the cheerful Kune Kune pigs.

For example, she calls a pig by its name. The pig comes and walks with her “at heel” into a small room. The pig’s task is now to search for a treat, a piece of apple, in this small room.
The pig now begins to think attentively. It has to learn and practice to catch the piece of apple.

And it’s just like with humans: one pig learns quickly and the other takes a little longer. But every pig finds the apple and can savour it after the exercise.

Pigs are wonderful and lovable creatures and deserve laws and people who value and respect their lives.