Little Lucy threatens pig farmers' bacon

John Elder
August 3, 2008

Bringing home the bacon.

TOMORROW in Canberra, senior executives of Australian Pork Ltd are meeting to draft a media battle plan � in response to a sad-sounding little girl they had hoped would go away but now threatens the pig industry.

"We certainly could be hurt by this," says Australian Pork CEO Andrew Spencer. "We didn't want to come out and pour fuel on the flames, but I think it's got to a point where we have to make some sort of response."

What's got pig farmers squealing is a radio ad campaign by Animals Australia. It features a young child voicing the purportedly miserable life of a pregnant sow kept in confined quarters.

(Click here to listen to the radio ads)

In one ad, with the sound of babies crying in the background, the girl says: "Everybody's crying today. It's the same every day. It never stops � I wish I could close my eyes and not wake up and then I wouldn't hear it any more."

Disturbing enough, but what's got talkback radio listeners complaining is the campaign's punchline, voiced by a deep-voiced man: "It is commonly accepted that a pig has the intelligence of a three-year-old child."

In fact, outrage is such that donations from horrified listeners are keeping the campaign running. "We only had enough money to pay for a week's worth of air time in the capital cities," says Glenys Oogjes, Animals Australia's executive director. "But the overwhelming public support means we are now in our fourth week � and I don't know how long it's going to last."

The campaign, "Lucy speaks", was designed by Sydney creative director Josh Moore three years ago when he was working in New Zealand. Asked to tackle controversial pig-farming practices, such as the use of sow stalls, he came up with Lucy Speaks.

The Kiwi version of the campaign died because of a lack of money. But this time, as cash pours in, it is bringing home the bacon.

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God's Creatures Ministry is committed to spreading God's compassion to all He has made based on The Scriptures. Although we are a Christian Ministry, we encourage all to have their own animal welfare committee in their community. We extend our resources to those who would like to learn more or begin their own God's Creatures Ministry as an extension of us. God created us to have a vegetarian diet and commissioned us to protect His animals. Instead, we have exploited them for our entertainment, fashion, appetite and useless, torturous research. These creatures have the right to live as they were created to live. Because we live IN this world, but are not OF this world, we strive to bring God's mercy and justice to all. We live in God's Kingdom now where Jesus, The Sacrificial Lamb, The Prince of Peace, The Lion of Judah reigns. We look forward to that day when all of creation will be 'set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God' (Romans 8:21) where a little child will lead and guide God's creatures (see Isaiah 11:5-9).