First, our pigs (hogs), on the small farm I was raised on during high school years, and our neighboring farmer's pigs weren't raised as pets. Yes, some were shown at local county/state fairs, but they were raised for money and meat. Anyway, my wife got to watch this documentary (movie?) the other night and see what I did on that hog farm. From feeding/watering in freezing cold/snowy winter weather, to putting rings into small pigs noses (stop them from rooting up the entire place), to taking to market/slaughterhouse. Hogs love field corn (right out of the field) and watermelon rinds. They love to lay in muddy water, to keep cool, in the summer heat. We had a small pond, next to our barn, that they love to lay in. The documentary even showed the hog, after slaughter and stripped, hung on hooks going into a holding area to be cut up. I read on Facebook, that a number of young ladies didn't like seeing that part and stated "I cried". For wife and I, all we could see/imagine was some great looking baby back pork ribs, pork roast and other delicious meat.
We raised pigs here for a few summers, but it is too difficult to breed them here for me. One farmer I knew raised pigs, but every time a sow got pushed out of the building in the middle of the night, it was frozen by morning. They were great to have around, and disposed our excess milk, whey, and veggies for us just fine, and produced meat that was so far superior to what is purchased in teh store, it didn't even seem like it came from the same animal.
I wonder if a documentary has ever been done about cattle or sheep farming/ranching where a farmer or rancher has decided to no longer raise livestock due to compassion for the livestock. The only reason I liked The Last Pig was that it showed my wife what I did and helped with. Animal activist must have loved this documentary, since it's about a pig farmer that decided he had too much compassion for his pigs than he should have and got rid of all of them.
I remember just how protective our sow was towards her piglets. Actually, I can still hear the pigs, at about a year and a half old, squealing like mad when we put a ring or two in their nose to stop them from rooting. And, also remember, after a sow giving birth, we had to keep a watch out for any dead baby pigs that she may have rolled over on. If we didn't get the dead one/ones out of the pen, she would eat them. For me, I'd take raising cattle anytime over raising pigs. And, as far as showing pigs go, would also take showing cattle anytime over pigs. A pig shower has to have a cane to direct their pig in the show ring, or else.........
Pigs are said to be the smartest of the livestock animals, and that, in part makes them more difficult to show, as the herd animals tend to go where they are directed and, except for goats, the brains have been pretty much been bred out of them.