THIS LITTLE PIGGY STAYED HOME

The LA Times this morning has a wonderful article on pigs, California pigs to be exact. Seems that with the threat of the H1N1 flu intensifying, animal science people - those who teach veterinary and pre-veterinary science programs, swine facility managers at colleges and universities, and animal sanctuary founders and caretakers are putting out the word that sick people must stay away from "our swine." In fact, signs went up around Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on all the roadways leading to the pig barns that said, "In order to protect our animals from possible exposure to swine influenza, access is limited to only healthy students and personnel."

And Cal Poly Pomona was asked by a news team if they could come in and do a story while standing in the swine unit with the pigs all running around. The answer was a flat NO. The professor in the animal and veterinary sciences department added, 'It's too much of a risk. I don't know where they've been. I don't know where their equipment has been. Maybe if it had been any other time, I would have said yes." But not now.

These schools with such programs pride themselves on having healthy, clean animal stock which they use for teaching, research and public outreach. They say they don't have to "ramp up" their health-safety procedures because they already keep their pigs in a "near-cocoon of biosecurity."

Pierce College in Woodland Hills has a 150 pound Pot-bellied pig named Oscar, and he is used as a guinea pig for future vets and vet-techs to learn how to take animal temperature, pulse and respiration rates. Oscar is a special pig and Pierce professors don't want anyone around who is sick. People aren't allowed to smoke around Oscar either. These pig folk say the pigs are more at risk for picking up the flu from humans than the other way around.

And they are not crazy about calling it swine flu, either. They think this does a disservice to the pig, making the pig the bad guy. So they work hard to refer to the flu as H1N1, although I suspect calling it "swine flu" comes a little bit easier. (That is me talking, not the LA Times.)

So folks, stay away from pigs right now until this whole ordeal gets past. Give 'em a break. No use making the pigs sick. They've got a bad rap the way it is, and we don't want to aggravate them, right?