Oregon swine farmer eaten by own hogs
US authorities are investigating how a US farmer, setting out to feed his hogs, was eaten by them instead.
Oregon farmer, Terry Vance Garner, 69 years of age, set out to feed his animals Wednesday, and failed to make it back, alive.
Garner’s dentures and pieces of his body were found in the pig’s enclosure, by a relative sent out to investigate the 69-year-old’s whereabouts, but most of Garner had been consumed.
In a statement the authorities said that it is possible that Garner may have had a medical emergency such as a heart attack, or was knocked down by the animals before he was killed.
Criminal activity has not been ruled out as the cause of death.
Authorities estimate that the pigs, consisting of a boar and several sows, weigh 320 kg each. Most pigs are taken to market before they reach this weight, and this suggests that the animals were not being kept for consumption, as pets. Garners older brother Michael stressed his brother’s fondness for the animals, but added that at least one pig had either bitten or been aggressive with Garner previously, and Garner intended to put them animal down. Garner, a Vietnam veteran, later abandoned his decision.
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