It just really kinda makes me sick to think about it, but I guess they did what they thought was best.  The representative interviewed just sounded so callous, but I guess he was stressed out about everything else happening and this was of low importance on his scale of concerns.

Pigs who swam through floodwaters killed on levee

By ALLEN G. BREED
AP National Writer

KINGSTON, Iowa — Luck ran out for about a dozen pigs who escaped their flooded farm, swam through raging floodwaters and scrambled atop a sandbag levee in southeastern Iowa.

Des Moines County sheriff's officials shot the pigs Tuesday, not long after they reached the levee several miles from the nearest hog farm.

Officials said they killed the pigs over worries that they would weaken the levee. Onlookers said the animals were having a difficult time trying to maneuver their way off the sandbags, and that they scurried back into the water as people approached.

"Basically you cannot have something with a hoof walk on plastic and not poke a hole in the plastic and let water into it," said LeRoy Lippert, chairman of the county emergency management commission. "Hogs, they have a tendency to root and that would not have been good either."

He said the state veterinarian and other agencies were consulted, and that 10 to 16 animals were killed.

"It happens every day. My gosh, that's what slaughterhouses do — that's how we get bacon and pork chops," Lippert said. "It's just one of the casualties of the flooding situation."

The carcasses were left at the site and treated essentially as road kill, Lippert said. "You don't get them out of the mud and over the dike when you're worried about people and people's property," he said.

Louisa County Sheriff Curt Braby said he had heard about the incident and understood why the pigs needed to be killed.

"They did not want to take a chance on losing a city due to a few hogs," he said.

Lippert noted that out of about 36,000 pigs in the Oakville area, officials estimated that only a thousand or so were left behind when the floodwaters came through.

"We trucked them as far as 200 miles away to other hog farms so that they would be taken care of," he said.

Here is one that survived from another area
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/04/94/94/image_7194944.jpg
A pig who somehow floated or swam several miles from the flooded hog barns near Oakville, Iowa, walks on a portion of the levee to a sandbagged portion of levee near Kingston, Iowa, Tuesday, June 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Mmmm...  bacon.

The difference between the humans who died in the flooding and the pigs that died in the flooding is the humans were not going to be butchered, dismembered, and devoured in six months!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/oink.gif http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/oink2.gif

The difference between the humans who died in the flooding and the pigs that died in the flooding is the humans were not going to be butchered, dismembered, and devoured in six months!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/oink.gif http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/oink2.gif


True, but the humans that survived weren't shot at when they finally reached safety either.  :o ;D

True, but the humans that survived weren't shot at when they finally reached safety either.  :o ;D


And therein lies the difference between a Midwest flood thread and a Katrina flood thread.

possibly the LEAST heartwarming story of the year. :(

Mmmm...  bacon.


That wasn't even funny ::)

And therein lies the difference between a Midwest flood thread and a Katrina flood thread.


True.  Of course some other differences in the Midwest floods:

-Locals did not shoot at rescue helicopters (or each other)

-Midwestern police did not walk off the job and go out looting the stores

-Most people evacuated when told to (although in the Midwest, there were still some numbskulls who had to be physically forced to evaciate)

True.  Of course some other differences in the Midwest floods:

-Locals did not shoot at rescue helicopters (or each other)

-Midwestern police did not walk off the job and go out looting the stores

-Most people evacuated when told to (although in the Midwest, there were still some numbskulls who had to be physically forced to evaciate)
i think most of this had to do with the fact that new orleans is a concentrated urban center with a correspondingly high crime rate. oh, not to mention exaggeration -- a lot of the stories about people shooting at police helicopters etc. weren't even true or were about as exaggerated as the claims that obama's a muslim. it does, however, appear that some NOPD officers did in fact participate in looting.

and the fact that blackwater was hired to police new orleans plain spooks me out. when exactly did we vote to have private mercs policing our streets?

That wasn't even funny ::)


I agree. That wasn't funny at all.

i think most of this had to do with the fact that new orleans is a concentrated urban center with a correspondingly high crime rate. oh, not to mention exaggeration -- a lot of the stories about people shooting at police helicopters etc. weren't even true or were about as exaggerated as the claims that obama's a muslim. it does, however, appear that some NOPD officers did in fact participate in looting.

and the fact that blackwater was hired to police new orleans plain spooks me out. when exactly did we vote to have private mercs policing our streets?

And I don't know what Mr. Clutter would make of John C. Holmes!

This is typical right-wing thought:  Find the people with the least power and the least money and scapegoat them!
::)

And I don't know what Mr. Clutter would make of John C. Holmes!

This is typical right-wing thought:  Find the people with the least power and the least money and scapegoat them!
::)


John C. Holmes woulda stayed on the job, and had a little fun along the way.  ;)

You're implying that 25% of the NOLAPD did not abandon their posts? ???  Or that it was OK, because they did not have money or power? ???

You're implying that 25% of the NOLAPD did not abandon their posts? ???  Or that it was OK, because they did not have money or power? ???
if they DID, what exactly does that mean? what conclusion are we to draw? take me to the bottom line here, mr. LB, i'm not sure what you're driving at.

John C. Holmes woulda stayed on the job, and had a little fun along the way.  ;)

You're implying that 25% of the NOLAPD did not abandon their posts? ???  Or that it was OK, because they did not have money or power? ???

Maybe their posts were under water and there wasn't enough scuba gear to go around!
::)

All I'm saying is conservatives have been hellbent for thee years on blaming the citizens of New Orleans for their own plight and now hellbent on exalting by comparison the citizens of Cedar Rapids because they're God-fearing white Republicans who plough the soil.

That wasn't even funny ::)

Yes...  but it is rather tasty.

http://i30.tinypic.com/2hykjl2.jpg

Yes...  but it is rather tasty.

http://i30.tinypic.com/2hykjl2.jpg

;D ;D ;D

Maybe their posts were under water and there wasn't enough scuba gear to go around!
::)

All I'm saying is conservatives have been hellbent for thee years on blaming the citizens of New Orleans for their own plight and now hellbent on exalting by comparison the citizens of Cedar Rapids because they're God-fearing white Republicans who plough the soil.



I'm not sure how many God Fearing White Republicans are in East St. Louis...  :P

It's really sad, poor little piggies.

Yes...  but it is rather tasty.

http://i30.tinypic.com/2hykjl2.jpg



no. It's not even that.

You don't like pork, eh?  Well, I understand if it's against your religion or something.  I think it's tasty.

Swine is divine...  :D

You don't like pork, eh?  Well, I understand if it's against your religion or something.  I think it's tasty.

Swine is divine...  :D



no, it's not against my religion. I'm a vegetarian. :)

no, it's not against my religion. I'm a vegetarian. :)

Ah...  In certain ways, I can't blame you.  Some of the sanitation practices in meat preparation have always bothered me.

Ah...  In certain ways, I can't blame you.  Some of the sanitation practices in meat preparation have always bothered me.


ya...it's pretty upsetting. :(

I'm not sure how many God Fearing White Republicans are in East St. Louis...  :P

Not white ones anyway.  Prolly not Republicans either.  I'm sure there are God-fearing Christians in E. St. Louie, but if I was plunked down in that town, likely the only person I wouldn't fear is God!
:-[