Egypt regrets killing trash-eating pigs
After killing all of the country’s pigs in an attempt to thwart swine flu, Egyptian officials see flaws in the plan.
By Stephanie RogersTue, Sep 22 2009 at 1:16 PM EST
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Photo: Clemson/Flickr They killed all 300,000 of Egypt’s pigs this spring in an impulsive attempt to control swine flu, even though no cases had been reported within the country’s borders. Now, Egyptian officials are wondering if they made a mistake, as the trash that the pigs once consumed accumulates in massive stinking piles.
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But when the government ordered the cull, the Zabaleen and local pig farmers clashed with police in an attempt to keep their animals from being taken away from them without compensation. They vowed to stop taking care of the organic waste.
The Egyptian government proceeded with the cull despite criticism from international authorities, who warned that it would do nothing to stop the threat of H1N1. And, though they had promised to do it humanely according to Islamic law, reporters from a local newspaper captured tragic footage of live piglets being dropped into dump trucks, stabbed and beaten.
“They killed the pigs, let them clean the city,” former garbage collector and pig owner Moussa Rateb told The New York Times. “Everything used to go to the pigs, now there are no pigs, so it goes to the administration.”
It’s not just the lack of pigs that’s causing this big, smelly problem in Egypt. It’s also the government’s bumbling attempt to modernize Egyptian trash collection, hiring multinational companies with shiny new trucks and bins that simply can’t keep up with the flow of garbage.
Egyptian citizens are used to the ways of the Zabaleen, who were very efficient at gathering and processing trash, and they haven’t adapted to the new system.
Sadly, it seems as if the pigs died in vain. Despite the cull, there have been 800 confirmed cases of H1N1 in Egypt and two flu-related deaths. Meanwhile, the trash piles grow and grow.
Economist, writer and social critic Galal Amin summed up the situation in one simple sentence: “The Egyptians are really in a mess.”
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Comments
Guest
06/09/2011 12:01 PM
RIP Arnold ZIphel i heard he retired in Egypt
lol
09/27/2010 07:07 AM
They failed hahahaha
Kilgore Trout
10/25/2009 19:14 PM
It seems this happening all over the world. The Bumbleen in Moronicstan have had their pigs taken away and killed too by the Taliban who claim that the pigs were spreading the herpes virus. Makes you wonder why no one is covering this debacle.
Iker
10/25/2009 17:05 PM
Since getting the pigs again would be a lot of money, maybe some of them could try vermicomposting the organic waste!
Uncle B
10/25/2009 12:29 PM
Did these kindly folk at least eat or render to oil and fertilizer the pigs they slaughtered as any sane suvuvor nation would do? As Americans do? Didn't they stop and realize, pigs turn garbage into pig Shiite, ideal for making bio-gas, and topsoil improving fertilizers? Did they waste this gift of G d? Was this their smartest move? Can these folk learn to adapt to an ever-changing world, or will they too, go the way of the Dodo bird, into self-imposed, religiously enforced self inflicted.... More
Judith
09/28/2009 15:17 PM
unbelievable and disgusting. As Mahatma Gandhi said "society is judged by the way it treats it's animals." The Egyptians used to be an incredibly enlightened society. What the H happened?
Frank G
10/16/2009 18:12 PM
These muslims grabbed an oppurtunity to get rid of coptic living in Egypt...I was there as a tourist and needless to say, Cairo is a **** hole last time i was there 10 years back....Muslims are ignorant dumb idiots in egypt....
T. Navarro
09/29/2009 20:58 PM
I frankly don't foresee the day when I, and many other tourists, will visit Egypt after that beyond-ignorant murder of all those innocent pigs.
Bunnyv
09/24/2009 16:05 PM
Your post definitely makes more sense than this article. Thank you!
Anonymous
09/23/2009 17:06 PM
Learn more about the Zabbaleen by watching this film:
MARINA OF THE ZABBALEEN
A film by Engi Wassef
Marína of the Zabbaleen is a cinematic documentary that explores the world
of seven-year-old Marína in the Muqqattam garbage recycling village in
Cairo, Egypt. An impressionistic portrait of childhood and family, the film
also tells the story of the resourceful Zabbaleen, a Coptic Christian community of recyclers whose entrepreneurial waste management.... More
Anonymous
09/23/2009 13:43 PM
Enter your comments here Yes, the massive slaughtering of pigs was another huge resource that the Zaballeen are having to live without, but rather than dwelling on their woes; these incredibly resilient environmental entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the latest garbage fiasco by speaking out even louder, and becoming even more determined to implement their plan of "Source Separation". The Zaballeen have a long history of finding solutions rather than falling victim to seemingly.... More
Anonymous
09/23/2009 13:22 PM
LOL, way to fail Egypt...
Anonymous
09/23/2009 11:40 AM
To learn even more about the Zabaleen - and how the Egyptian government's attempts to modernize the trash trade are affecting them - check out the new documentary GARBAGE DREAMS (www.garbagedreams.com). The Zabaleen recycle 80% of the trash they collect and the multinational companies recycle just 20%. As Al Gore so elequently put it, "Garbage Dreams makes a compelling case that modernization does not always.... More
Elizah Leigh
09/22/2009 19:10 PM
What a complete and utter lack of regard for life. I am so sick and tired of officials decimating animal populations without proper knowledge supporting their case, and I wouldn't be surprised if they just waste the carcasses by letting them rot in a mass grave.
Anonymous
09/22/2009 16:47 PM
There is nothing to suggest, contrary to your intro, that any Egyptian officials regret or see flaws in killing the pigs. Nor are any officials cited.
You should understand that the zebaleen don't collect just organic waste; they go door-to-door to collect all waste, which they sort into organic (for the pigs) and dry waste (for recycling), leaving whatever has no value in the street-side bins for the foreign companies to pick up. So it isn't a case that Egyptians "haven't adapted to the.... More
