Carnism

China importing thousands of 'breeding' pigs by the plane load

© Photabulous!

China has started a process of importing thousands of pigs by the plane load to replenish the millions that were killed due to the swine flu outbreak that took hold in late 2018.

China leads other countries in having the most pigs and consuming the most pig flesh. Statista [1] reported China to have 335 million pigs as of February 24, 2020, followed by the EU at 148 million and the Unites States third at 77 million.

But the African swine flu disease reportedly halved the number of pigs in China by the end of 2019 due to the millions of pigs that either died of the Swine Flu virus or were killed to prevent its spread. An estimated 300 million, died of the virus or been exterminated since the disease took hold in the fall of 2018. [2]

"Though not harmful to humans, African swine fever is deadly to hogs, with no vaccine available. It surfaced for the first time in Asia more than a year ago, in China, and has now spread to over 50 countries, according to the World Organization of Animal Health -- including those that account for 75% of global pork production." [3]

Apparently this has not deterred officials from taking active measures to rebuilding the number of pigs to feed to the Chinese demand for pig flesh.

"Six planes carrying more than 4,000 high-quality French breeding pigs have arrived in China so far this year" [4] with as many as 150 [5] plane loads expected. At 500 to 800 pigs per plane load that would amount to 90,000 pigs expected to be flown to China.

"China imports breeding pigs to take advantage of traits like increased productivity and better meat quality that global genetics firms select for during breeding. A top breeding sow can have a litter of as many as 16 piglets." [5]

In a typical year, China slaughters about 700 million pigs a year [4], that is 700 million sentient lives, bred for just a few months only to be killed and eaten.