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Activists call on temple to stop cruel animal practices

Asian Coalition for Farm Animals members Wu Hung, front left, and Amy Firth, front right, prepare to take their alternative sacrificial pig to the Sansia Master Temple yesterday. PHOTO: MEGGIE LU, TAIPEI TIMES

The Asian Coalition for Farm Animals (ACFA) yesterday urged Master Temples (祖師爺廟) in Taiwan to terminate animal cruelty in religious rites.

The coalition, consisting of animal protection groups from Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and the UK, told a press conference in Taipei that Master Temples should stop force-feeding pigs and entering them in "divine pig" contests.

Master Temples worship the Clearwater Master (清水祖師), a legendary general named Chen Chao-ying (陳昭應) who led the Han people in defending their homeland during the Song Dynasty.

The contest is a tradition that rewards a gold medal to owners of the heaviest pig at annual Master Temple prayer ceremonies, Environmental and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) president Wu Hung (朱增宏) told the media.

The winning pig, or "divine pig," is then slaughtered in public "while fully conscious" and offered to the Master, Wu Hung said.

"To achieve the status of a `divine pig,' the pigs are force-fed for up to two years and confined in pigpens that are so small they can hardly turn to ensure minimum movement," Wu Hung said, adding that champion pigs weigh up to 600kg -- six times the normal body weight for pigs.

"We are by no means preaching against traditional religious ceremonies," said Amy Firth, campaign manager of the World Society for the Protection of Animals [UK]. "We are saying that there are better ways to show respect to the Master than sacrificing the well-being of a life."

Wu Hung said that of the 118 temples they talked to, only three have held the contest in recent years.

"Sansia's (三峽) Master Temple in Taipei County is the only one that holds the contest annually," he said.

"We earnestly plead with them to end it," he said.

After the press conference a parade of ACFA volunteers boarded a bus to Sansia's Master Temple to offer them "an alternative way to respect God" -- a colorful, life-sized, smiling pig made of cardboard and decorated with flowers and candy, Wu Hung said.

They were met, however, by Sansia's police force and local government officials, who blocked the parade's entrance to the temple, saying they were in violation of the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法), said Wu Hung.

"The officials told us to respect local traditions and refused the cardboard pig," he said.

"However, we received some local cheers, and in the end we went into the temple to offer flowers and candy to the Master to pay our respects," he said.
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