Urgent: Ask Church to Ditch Cruelty to Animals

UPDATE | July 3

Comment from Mr. Joey Lyons, one target of protest:

The scheduled pig scramble has been officially canceled. Thank you for your comments.

BACKGROUND

Social, intelligent, and loyal, pigs are highly sensitive animals who enjoy communicating with each other, making nests, and relaxing in the sun. But on Wednesday, July 4, the Bridge Foursquare Church in Christiansburg, Virginia, has scheduled a “Greased Pig Scramble” at its “Old Fashioned July Fourth Celebration.” Such events typically involve frantic groups of people chasing, grabbing at, and tackling terrified pigs in pens lined with screaming crowds. Being trucked to and fro and subjected to the violence and general chaos of these events is a horrific and hazardous ordeal for the pigs, who often sustain severe injuries such as broken limbs and backs. PETA has asked the church to replace this cruel activity with any number of humane alternatives, but to no avail. We need your help today!

Please politely urge the Bridge Foursquare Church to cancel the Greased Pig Scramble. And please, spread this alert far and wide!


WHOM TO CONTACT

Send polite comments to:

Email block

joey@thebridgeva.org , bsellers@thebridgeva.org

Individual

Joey Lyons
Youth/Associate Pastor
900 Life Dr.
Christiansburg, Virginia 24073
540-381-9766
joey@thebridgeva.org

Becky Sellers
Children’s Ministry Director
bsellers@thebridgeva.org
*Please note that this email has been blocked by the owner. Any emails sent to this email address will be bounced back. I have kept it in just for informational purposes.


SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Associate Pastor Lyons and Ministry Director Sellers,

I am disturbed to learn that on Wednesday, July 4, the Bridge Foursquare Church in Christiansburg, Virginia, has scheduled a “Greased Pig Scramble” at its “Old Fashioned July Fourth Celebration.” Such events typically involve frantic groups of people chasing, grabbing at, and tackling terrified pigs in pens lined with screaming crowds. Being trucked to and fro and subjected to the violence and general chaos of these events is a horrific and hazardous ordeal for the pigs, who often sustain severe injuries such as broken limbs and backs.

I am therefore respectfully urging you cancel this unjustified and cruel event. Pigs are marvelously intelligent and sentient creatures, capable of love, pain, thought, and suffering; when you subject pigs to such indecent treatments, you not only condemn them to fear and agony, but you also demean yourself and establish that you are unsympathetic.

Furthermore, when you actively engage in this type of cheap entertainment in front of children, and, in fact, have children actually participating in such, you are demonstrating that animal abuse and disrespect are socially-approved activities, and the link between animal and human abuse is represented. I therefore urge you to cease this exploitation and demonstrate that yours is a community cognizant of the importance of animal protection rather than animal abuse.

Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent request.

NAME

we hope you listen
and do not besmirch,
the gentle teachings
of your church,
this so called game
is cruel
and a bad lesson to
teach.
kindness to ALL
beings is what
you should teach

Karen Lyons Kalmenson