Pigs are as smart as dogs. Why do we eat one and love the other?

A dog and a pig sniff each other through a fence

Inti St Clair/Tetra Images via Getty Images

There’s a paradox on our plates.

Imagine a dog. She spends her entire life in an iron crate so small that she cannot turn around. Her tail has been cut off so that other dogs in cages jammed up against hers won’t chew it off in distress. When she has puppies, the males are castrated without painkillers. They are left close enough for her to nurse, but too far away for her to show them any affection.

Fortunately, this dog is a fictional creation. We have laws preventing people from treating pets this way.

Unfortunately, we are doing this to animals that are very similar to dogs. This is an all-too-real description of how we treat some of the millions and millions of pigs we raise for meat on factory farms.

So why do we treat the animals we eat in ways we would never, ever treat our pets?

For the third season of the Vox Media Podcast Network series Future Perfect, we delve into how the meat we eat affects all of us. In this episode, we speak with Lori Marino, a neuroscientist who studies animal behavior and intelligence, to try to understand this paradox on our plates.

Marino makes it clear that pigs — and even chickens — are intelligent, emotional beings worthy of our moral consideration. She also helps us understand why we don’t consider them morally worthy.

You can subscribe to Future Perfect on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Further reading:

This podcast was made possible thanks to support from Animal Charity Evaluators, a nonprofit that researches and promotes the most effective ways to help animals.

Sign up for the Future Perfect newsletter. Twice a week, you’ll get a roundup of ideas and solutions for tackling our biggest challenges: improving public health, decreasing human and animal suffering, easing catastrophic risks, and — to put it simply — getting better at doing good.


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Trump not been an honest broker on Palestinian statehood: Prince Turki – (hope this is view of all in Saudi government)

Source: Trump not been an honest broker on Palestinian statehood: Prince Turki

Prince Turki said Trump had not been honest on the issue of Palestinian statehood. The prince added that his father, the late King Faisal, who ruled the kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s, would have been disappointed that the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed onto the recent accord without a solution for the Palestinians.

“His (King Faisal’s) decision to put oil sanctions on the United States after the Americans decided to give more aid to Israel during the Ramadan War [in 1973 was] for the reason to force the United States to be an honest broker between Israel [and] the Arab world,” Prince Turki told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in an interview from Jiddah.

“And I must say that President Trump has not been such an honest broker. So yes, I think the late king would have been disappointed.”

Adib Promises ‘Mission Govt.’ that ‘Satisfies All Lebanese’ — Naharnet

Source: Adib Promises ‘Mission Govt.’ that ‘Satisfies All Lebanese’ — Naharnet

Adib noted that he had maintained silence throughout the past period out of his sense of the “great responsibility” resting on his shoulders and in order to present a line-up in consultation with the President and within the constitutional framework.

Reiterating his commitment that the government will be comprised of “competent specialists who can win the confidence of the country and the Arab and international communities,” the PM-designate pointed out that that would “open the door before Lebanon to get the necessary foreign assistance to rescue the sinking economy.”

Adib also urged all parties anew to “cooperate for the sake of Lebanon and its sons” and “seize the opportunity of rescuing the country.”

The PM-designate’s remarks come a day after ex-PM Saad Hariri presented an initiative aimed at resolving the deadlock over the finance ministerial portfolio.

Hariri said he has decided to “help PM-designate Adib find an exit through naming an independent finance minister from the Shiite sect who would be chosen by him, similarly to the rest of ministers, on the basis of competency, integrity and non-partisanship.”

COVID-19: Boris Johnson ‘reluctant’ to curb civil liberties but warns of further restrictions

Here lies the false story… “liberties” not being repressed or suppressed… instead, society adopting methods to contain the pandemic…

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In a live address to the nation, Boris Johnson said that he was “reluctant” to curb civil liberties to fight coronavirus but warned he would put further measures in place.

Airlines call for virus tests before all international flights

With rapid antigen tests becoming available for as little as $7 each, De Juniac said, airlines will push for their use to be endorsed by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the UN agency that oversees global aviation rules.

He stressed that last-minute airport screening is more effective because it “seals off the system” against forged certificates or infections contracted just before travel.

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Global airlines called on Tuesday for airport coronavirus tests for all passengers to replace the quarantines they blame for aggravating the travel slump.

The head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Alexandre de Juniac, said that rapid tests that can be administered by non-medical staff are expected to become available in “coming weeks” and should be rolled out under globally agreed standards.

“We don’t see any alternative solution that would be less challenging or more effective”, De Juniac said.

Last week, the largest EU airline association, Airlines for Europe (A4E), said that August saw passenger traffic plateau at around 30% of its level a year ago, and urged national capitals to coordinate measures to limit the spread of the virus.

A4E director Thomas Reynaert criticised the “chaotic border restrictions along with confusion about quarantines, varying passenger locator forms and test requirements”.

With rapid antigen tests becoming available for as little as $7 each, De Juniac said, airlines will push for their use to be endorsed by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the UN agency that oversees global aviation rules.

He stressed that last-minute airport screening is more effective because it “seals off the system” against forged certificates or infections contracted just before travel.

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