Dear Mr. Buckmaster,

I was browsing Craigslist today, as I often do - whether looking at apartments, job opportunities, or items for sale. I found something quite unsettling when looking in the "sale" and "farm and garden" section. I saw that there were many posts selling pigs, either as "roasters" or "for the freezer" and many as "micro pigs."

To my knowledge, Craigslist does not support the sale of pets, as their are plenty of animal welfare concerns with puppy mills and ending up in an abusive situation. There are still dogs and cats under the pets section but Craigslist requires a "rehoming fee" which is considered different than selling. There are still issues with this being unregulated, but what I saw today was much worse. Whether you're looking at "farm + garden" in LA or Boston, the search for "pig" will result in many people ready to sell you a pig for you to kill, or they will slaughter the pig for you. None of this is regulated whatsoever. Many of the photos show pigs in poor conditions and they have likely been abused and neglected. In farming circles, they discuss the ways to bypass Craigslist prohibiting the sale of pets by selling them in the farm + garden section. 

Their "owners" are raising them to be killed, with some images showing a piglet roasting on a barbecue. They are also for sale in this section is mini-pigs, which is deceitful -- these are tiny piglets they are selling and telling the customer to restrict the piglet’s food intake to ensure he does not grow too big (because after all, he is a full sized pig, but the breeder will make more money this way). They sell the piglets at a much too young age, and when people end up with a “mini-pig” and soon find out he is a large 500 lb pig, sanctuaries and shelters start getting phone calls. Every day, they hear people who bought a pig believing the piglet would stay small. These breeders are creating a tremendous problem and the pigs usually end up in a terrible situation as rescues are often full.

Whether the pig is being sold as a pet or to be slaughtered, there is often plenty of animal cruelty involved and this is a huge animal welfare concern that Craigslist needs to address immediately. Craigslist needs to prohibit the sale of all animals, not just animals that people typically perceive as pets. Craigslist needs to ban both the sale of pigs and other farm animals (cows, chickens, goats) whether the person is selling them to be slaughtered or as pets. Either way, the customer is deceived, animal cruelty is involved, and the animals suffer tremendously.

There are no regulations on the slaughter of the animal. Backyard illegal slaughterhouses use barbaric methods of killing the animal -- there is no regulation or desire to mitigate the animal’s suffering up to and during slaughter. You can look online for many cases of illegal backyard slaughterhouses where the living animals are among the dead and suffer from neglect and abuse, injuries and diseases. I hope you find this just as concerning as I do, and put an end to Craigslist supporting these practices that are terribly abusive to animals. Please do the right thing and prohibit the sell of all animals on your website.  I hope to continue to support Craigslist, and will continue to as soon as you commit to ending the sale of all animals.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to discussing this matter further with you and resolving to put an end to the unethical and inhumane practice of selling living beings as commodities on your website.

Hillary Glickman

MA Mental Health Counseling