WASHINGTON — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wanted to take a pretend pig farm with real pigs to Capitol Hill to protest how the animals are treated on corporate hog farms. PETA also wanted to fill 3,500 buckets with pig urine and waste, set the buckets on the U.S. Capitol plaza and then, for several days, use fans to waft the scent across the Hill.
The U.S. Capitol Police said no. Pigs, the agency said: a) have potentially unhealthy effluent and b) could spread swine flu.
The agency’s reasoning raised a minor political stink, however, with a congressman from North Carolina, the No. 2 pork-producing state, after Iowa. Democratic Rep. Bob Etheridge wrote the police a stern missive. Pig farms already suffer because of erroneous concerns that eating pork spreads swine flu, he wrote.
“Pork products are not only very safe,” he wrote, “but also very tasty.”
