News Roundup

Pig Farmer Turns To Animal Rights

Lo Hung-hsien,a hog farmer from New Taipei City’s Linkou District has transformed his farm into a real-life “piggy paradise” where pigs are not raised for meat. He had inherited his family’s large-scale, lucrative farming business from his grandfather before the switch over.

The 34-year-old the owner of the pig sanctuary who is also a vegetarian said, “Animals are our friends, not our food.” He was struck by the woeful eyes of a piglet which was going to be slaughtered. “When I took it in my hands, it looked me right in the eyes, as if saying: ‘How could you do this to me?’ That look in its eyes shattered me and kept me awake all night. It was then that I resolved to convert to vegetarianism and cut off cooperation with any butcheries,” Lo said.

Lo holds down multiple jobs, including working as a cargo driver, setting up temporary stalls at night markets and running an online business selling dumplings to cover the costs of his ranch. Lo manages to find time for his advocacy work to promote the benefits of a vegetarian diet, volunteer at schools and give free speeches at the Tzu Chi Foundation in between his salaried jobs and taking care of his sanctuary.

Lo starts his day at 4am each morning, driving to a number of vegetarian restaurants to collect their leftovers, which are first cooked before being fed to his treasured pets.

Afterward, Lo cleans up the pigpens and washes and plays with the hogs attentively, as if they were his children.

He has also sprayed the slogan “animals are our friends, not our food” on his truck because he wants to spread the seeds of his beliefs wherever he goes.