Pigs are gentle creatures with surprising intelligence—studies have found they’re smarter than dogs and even 3-year-old children.

In the wild, pigs form small groups that typically include a few sows and their piglets. Mother pigs and their babies stay close until the piglets mature; they even prefer to sleep snout-to-snout or snuggled up together. Yet on factory farms around the United States, pregnant pigs are confined to crates so small they can’t even turn around. Soon after their birth, the piglets are taken away from their mothers, the sows are impregnated again and the cycle continues.