From the Perspective of a Developing Nation

The Slaughtering of the Pigs Creates Heated Debate

Alaa El Damaty

In 1350, the world was introduced to the deadly Bubonic Plague. Now, in 2009, the world is experiencing a similar phenomenon. The number of people infected with Swine Flu is increasing every day around the world. The first week of June marked the spread of the flu to 62 countries, with 17,410 persons infected and 115 dead. In any world phenomenon, reactions differ from place to place, and Egypt, as a developing country, is going through a unique reaction to the spread of the flu. Unlike many countries, Egypt has taken the decision to slaughter most of its 300,000 pigs. This decision has positive and negative aspects.

It has been noted that Egypt’s tourism has greatly increased since the decision to slaughter the pigs was taken by President Mubarak.. Sharm El Sheikh is a major competitor in tourism of Cancun in Mexico. Many have switched their tourist destinations from Cancun to Sharm El Sheikh because of that decision, thereby limiting the chance of the Swine Flu spreading in Egypt. Despite this positive side to the slaughtering, Egypt has been internationally criticized by many for its actions.

"It has been decided to immediately start slaughtering all the pigs in Egypt using the full capacity of the country's slaughterhouses," Health Minister Hatem el-Gabaly stated after having a Cabinet meeting with President Hosni Mubarak. The question is: will these slaughterhouses be sufficient for the amount of pigs being slaughtered? When the slaughterhouses could not handle the amount of pigs to be slaughtered, the remaining number of pigs was to be burned with chemical substances and then buried in lime while they are still alive. Most humanitarian organizations around the world, especially animal right’s activist organizations, view this act as an atrocious one.

Also, there are not enough refrigerators to fit the hundreds of thousands of pigs slaughtered. The remaining pigs were left to rot, which created more problems. In an attempt to save the meat from rotting, some companies used the pork in many of their supposedly beef products. It was declared by the Ministry of Health that some meat companies have used the pork in products such as luncheon meat and sausage sold in the market.

The killing of the pigs also led to religious controversy; radicals like Michael Mounir entered the scene. He believed that the slaughtering of the pigs is a sign for the start of the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Mounir argued that the decision to slaughter the pigs was not only cruel, but it was meant as a sign of prejudice against the Coptics
As a developing nation, Egypt was brave enough to take the decision to slaughter all of its pigs, but it was not prepared to handle the decision and its consequences.