Phew, what a porker! Pigs force-fed until they are ten-times the normal size then slaughtered to appease the spirits

  • Winning owner awarded a prize of pure gold by the temple in New Taipei City
  • But animal activists have called for abolition of generations-old tradition

By Damien Gayle

Published: 18:44 EST, 4 February 2014 | Updated: 12:24 EST, 5 February 2014


A pig that weighed in at nearly one ton was publicly slaughtered today after its owner won first prize on a competition held by a Taoist temple in Taiwan.

Ten Holy Pigs were force fed to make them grow ten times larger than normal for the contest held by the Sanhsia Tzushih Temple in Yingko, New Taipei City, northern Taiwan.

The winning pig weighed in at a staggering 936kg and appeared in public looking like a porcine equivalent of Star Wars villain Jabba the Hut.

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Holy Pig! Taiwanese Taoists wait to see a Holy Pig to be dragged out and killed at Yingko, New Taipei City, northern Taiwan, during the Holy Pig Contest held by the Taoist Sanhsia Tzushih Temple

Holy Pig! Taiwanese Taoists wait to see a Holy Pig to be dragged out and killed at Yingko, New Taipei City, northern Taiwan, during the Holy Pig Contest held by the Taoist Sanhsia Tzushih Temple

Farmers compete to raise the heaviest pig for the annual event, which culminates with all the animals having their throats cut in public to please the gods.

The temple authorities award the farmer with the fattest pig a prize in gold for his achievement.

The tradition is generations old, but in recent years it has attracted fierce criticism and public protests from advocates of animal rights.

They say the contest is cruel, alleging that the pigs often kept in small enclosures and hit on the snout to force them to keep eating, and have demanded that it is abolished.

Hog tied: A fork truck prepares to transport a Holy Pig from its owner's home to an open space near the temple where it will have its throat cut as an offering to the gods as part of the New Year's festivities

Hog tied: A fork truck prepares to transport a Holy Pig from its owner's home to an open space near the temple where it will have its throat cut as an offering to the gods as part of the New Year's festivities

Men shave the prize-winning Holy Pig after it was killed: This pig, weighing 936kg, won its owner a prize in pure gold, but animal rights activists have called for an end to the contest, which they say is 'abusive and brutal'

Men shave the prize-winning Holy Pig after it was killed: This pig, weighing 936kg, won its owner a prize in pure gold, but animal rights activists have called for an end to the contest, which they say is 'abusive and brutal'

Temple officials have previously said that they will phase out the competition by 2017, but this year they said merely that they planned to stop handing out gold prizes to winning owners.

Activists have accused them of paying 'lip service' to criticisms of the practise, which they denounce as 'abusive and brutal'.


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