Their Turn - The Social Justice Movement of Our Time Their Turn - The Social Justice Movement of Our Time

A Farmer Sees The Light in THE LAST PIG

August 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment


Opinion

Emmy award winning filmmaker Allison Argo has released the trailer to her highly anticipated documentary. THE LAST PIG, the story of a farmer in upstate New York who struggles to align his livelihood with his principles, chronicles Bob Comis’ final year raising pigs for slaughter, intimately documenting his personal journey from killer to advocate. Watch the extraordinary trailer:

Unlike Howard Lyman, an animal rights activist who once farmed animals on an industrial scale, Mr. Comis became a “humane” pig farmer to offer an alternative to factory farming. According to Argo, he “labored to provide a near-idyllic life for his pigs, digging mud wallows in the summer heat; planting fields of corn where they can feed freely; and providing pigs with acres to roam with their herds.” But after ten years of farming pigs, Mr. Comis reached a tipping point. How could he continue to slaughter the very pigs who follow him around like his beloved dog and who show signs of stress when their friends vanish?

Last-Pig-Comis

“I’ve come to understand that their eyes are never vacant. There’s always somebody looking back at you.”

In the film, we see Comis embrace the feelings that he worked for years to suppress — that pigs are sentient beings who want to live and that slaughter cannot be reconciled with “humane” farming: “I don’t want to have the power to decide who lives or dies anymore.”

Bob Comis at his farm in upstate New York

Bob Comis at his farm in upstate New York

The film delivers subtle, but unmistakable messages about animal rights. Among them is our arbitrary cultural bias – regarding dogs as companions and equally intelligent pigs as commodities. Comis’ dog Monk, who follows him around the farm, serves a constant reminder of this bias, especially when he sits in the front of the truck while the slaughter-bound pigs languish in the back.

"This communion is a lie. I am not their herd mate. I am a pig farmer."

“This communion is a lie. I am not their herd mate. I am a pig farmer.”

Comis’ decision to transition from a pig to a veganic, vegetable farmer did not come easy because of the risk to his financial security: “I have to give up my job, my livelihood, in order to live in line with my ethics. It’s a colossal effort. It’s a terrifying effort. It’s overwhelming. But I’m committed to doing it.”

Your Turn

THE LAST PIG will be released in spring of 2016. Thus far, filmmaker Allison Argo and cinematographer Joe Brunette have funded production from their own pockets, but they need support with finishing funds. Please contribute, if you can. Follow the progress on Facebook.



Comments via Facebook

TheirTurn.net Comments

  1. Gloria Brown says:

    Love them don’t eat them

  2. Kendall says:

    Qսality content is the ϲrucial to invite the viewers to pay a νisit the website,
    that’ѕ wɦat this website is ƿroviding.

  3. Nic Ross says:

    Just wanted to let you know – your Facebook link at the bottom of the page is incorrect, so it doesn’t work. It is >>> http://www.%28https.com//www.facebook.com/TheLastPig

  4. Joanne says:

    I’ve been a big breeder for pet pigs. I’m veggie. Don’t eat meat. Haven’t done half my life. Pigs are my life. Like my dogs. I love pigs. They are so intelligent and run play bark like a dog. Mine dogs mooch about with my pigs. One of my fav pigs got poisoned last year. A bastard poisoned her. I’m still fighting with the police over it. Complaint on going. But she was beautiful. I miss her every day. She was my baby. Big lily. Pigs are beautiful intelligent creatures and brought so much joy as well as sadness to me. Never regret getting my pigs. My biggest boy. Roly weighs 45 stone and he’s a gentle loving giant. Xx

  5. Elinor Hawke-Szady says:

    Thank you for posting this and bringing attention to this film. I’ll definitely watch it. I try EVERY DAY not to eat beef, pork, chicken, turkey or anything else we have been told we should eat here in the Western Hemisphere and elsewhere on Earth.

  6. Hanneke coenraads says:

    I wish there were more people like you. You are an angel.

  7. Ralph Graham says:

    This is the reason I practice tolerance of those that have not yet joined the dots. It can happen at any time to anyone!! Bravo!!

    1. Dana says:

      Very well said Ralph.. So true.. Never give up. Thankyou 😉

  8. Zia Terhune says:

    When this brave man awakens in the middle of the night and isn’t haunted by what will happen in the morning, it will all be worth it. He is my hero.

  9. Oh my gosh. I stopped eating meat because I could not live the guilt any longer. We have a Vietnamese Pot Belly pig named Henry. When I am talking to him and feeding him he is my friend. He natters if I speak with him and follows me. He is so intelligent. He is like a 200lb. dog. I saw chickens being loaded in a truck to go to slaughter. I made my decision that afternoon. We have had a pet goat, sheep and two cows. Horses lived with us also. There is so much more to them than food. They feel joy,pain and stress just like us. We have no right to kill them anymore than we have a right to kill people. I am anxious for this movie but afraid of it at the same time. I do not know what to expect during watching it. Thank-you. Corine Dokic.

  10. Natasha Brenner says:

    Stanley Harrison IS a pig!

  11. Steph Radabaugh says:

    God bless you and your work. 😉

Comments are closed.