National Pig Day

Today is National Pig Day and celebrates the porcine swine animals which cohabitate this planet along with us and the rest of the food and companion animals in our midst.

It began in 1972 at the behest of Ellen Stanley, a teacher in Lubbock, Texas, and Mary Lynne Rave of Beaufort, North Carolina who are siblings.

Their notion regarding the day was "to accord the pig its rightful, though generally unrecognized, place as one of man's most intellectual and domesticated animals" ...
 

And therein lay both the bounty and tragedy of the notion of National Pig Day.

It has long been held that swine are a very intelligent animal capable of understanding humans and interacting at a level befitting an individual with personality.

So often we hear of companion animals such as the pot bellied pig becoming a food animal as the result of so-called shelter "rescues" and it is a shame that we would actually butcher and eat one of our pets ... but it happens.

Nonetheless, the day is relegated to noting the pig and attempting to cultivate an appreciation beyond the BLT sandwich, beloved by so many including yours truly.

So happy National Pig Day to you.