I have never seen the sky. I was born in a metal box with thousands of other pigs swarming around me. 2,500 of us were stuck in the house. Twenty lived in my pen. We couldn’t move there were so many of us. No one lasted longer than 6 months. They would become so fat they could no longer stand. When that happened it wouldn’t take long for the humans to come and take them away. I lasted longer than others, but finally I had to lie down because I could no longer hold my weight. I remember lying on the cold hard ground. It was covered by mine and others wastes from now and long ago. The only thing we looked forward to was feeding time. They fed us corn that always made me sick and something that tasted of metal and made me feel strange. I would hear stories of the outside world with its endless blue skies and something called grass that wouldn’t hurt my stomach. We told each other these stories to keep each other believing in a better world. A world where we weren’t beaten or sick. The other pigs would say one day nice humans would take us away to a better world. I never believed them. I could not see past the metal box and the humans that seemed all too eager to beat us. When the humans came to take me away I didn’t struggle. I was too weak.
They took us out of the building and into sunlight. It felt so good, so normal, I knew this was how I was supposed to live. Why have I been denied the right of warmth? The air no longer stink of waste. I could breathe and no longer gag. They moved the other pigs and me into another metal box. At least this one had holes. There were so many of us and they stuffed us in there so tight we couldn’t move. But, it didn’t matter; I was used to it. Besides I could look and see the beauty of the world. The others around me were so excited they thought we were going to a better life. It didn’t make sense that the humans would do something nice for us since they never had before. We started to move which felt so strange at first, but I got used to it. Looking out the holes I wished for the outside world. It seemed so right! Why could I not have it?
After we stopped moving we were all weak. We were not ready to move, but the humans came at us with metal bars that hurt us. As we walked through the doors I saw a sign that read, “Welcome to Smithfield meat-packing industry.” It scared me. I had heard rumors of Smithfield that it is a place of death. Inside I saw humans killing my kind. Everyone around me was so scared. They were worried about themselves. But, I felt sorrow not for me, but for the humans. Whoever this Smithfield was he was treating his workers no better than he was treating us. We were led to a room that smelled of only blood, and I knew I was going to die here. The humans put shackles around my ankles and hung me upside down. I heard the screams of my kind as their lives were taken away from them. Finally I saw the pig in front of me get her throat cut by a saw covered in blood. I knew it was my turn to die so I closed my eyes. My last thought was I only hope others don’t suffer this fate. Then...