One of the more memorable subplots of Snatch was Alan Ford’s Brick Top constantly threatening to feed people to his pigs. The reasoning exposited was that hungry pigs will eat anything, including people, with the added benefit of not leaving behind a pesky skeleton like those finnicky-ass piranhas I keep in my bathtub. And if you were wondering whether that plot point was based on truth or urban legend, wonder no longer:
An Oregon man trying to feed his 700-pound hogs was eaten by the animals Thursday, and sheriff’s deputies are trying to determine what led up to his death.
Terry Garner, who lived near the rural town of Riverton in southern Oregon, went to feed the animals on his farm at 7:30 a.m.
When he wasn’t seen for several hours, a family member went to look for him, and found Garner’s dentures on the ground in front of the hog enclosure, which housed several of the animals.
While searching the hog enclosure, the family member found Garner’s body in several pieces, with a majority of it consumed by the hogs, the district attorney said.
Now deputies are investigating how Garner ended up in a position where the hogs were able to eat him.
District Attorney Paul Frasier said there are a number of possible scenarios, including one in which Garner suffered a heart attack. Another possible scenario is that given Garner’s age and health, the hogs were able to knock him down and kill him. Frasier said there have been reports that at least one of the hogs had been aggressive toward Garner in the past. [KPTV]
Yikes. I especially like the part about “reports that at least one of the hogs had been aggressive toward Garner in the past.” So, uh… who was filing these “reports,” and who were they for? Is that a regular thing, aggressive hog reports? “A hog ate Terry? I ain’t surprised, it was probly Linda. Linda and Terry, they ain’t never got along, ever since Linda accused Terry of bogartin’ her slop.”
Garner’s remains were examined on Saturday by a pathologist who was unable to determine how the man died. A forensic anthropologist at the University of Oregon will also examine his remains.
Answering the phone at Garner’s home Monday, a man who described himself as a family friend described the tragedy succinctly: “What a way.”
This isn’t the first time hogs have eaten their farmers.
In 2004, a Romanian woman was knocked unconscious and eaten by the pigs on her farm, UPI reported at the time. The news report did not say whether the woman survived, only that the pigs had eaten the woman’s ears and half her face. Her husband, sedated, told reporters: “I’ll never breed such beasts again.” [NBCnews]
Aw, but they’re so delicious! You see, this is what your obnoxiously conspicuous love of bacon hath wrought, internet, for shame. Add this to your white-guilt justifications just behind the working conditions at Apple factories.
Also, and this is neither here nor there, but adding “pigs” to a google image search for “Snatch” doesn’t get you much closer to pictures from the Guy Ritchie movie.