Some Pig—and Then Some: LB Prof’s Porker Pages Are a Silk Purse Indeed

Dr. Brett Mizelle is a CSULB history professor and director of the university’s progressive American Studies Program with an engaging down-home demeanor. And he knows how to root with the pigs and come up with pounds of truffles.

Mizelle’s fascinating, and by his own description no means exhaustive, book on the history of pigs—the succinctly titled Pig (Reaktion Books, 2011)—is part of a unique series of exhaustively researched and expertly written and designed books edited by Jonathan Burt, an animal-studies academic and researcher. The series is written by individual authors; each book, as Mizelle says, is designed to get away from the generalizations made about animals.

“We don’t have relationships with animals—we have relationships with species, depending on the species.” Mizelle said.

Photos courtesy of CPPA 

The books in Animal examine and relate the history and social impact of an animal somewhere on the evolutionary scale from ape to mosquito (so far) and includes titles like Oyster and Trout. It was Burt’s idea that Mizelle pen Pig.

Pig is an amazing book. When Mizelle set out to write the history of the pig, he conceptualized all its aspects. In the book, you will find the development of the animal to its present snouty state through 40,000,000 years of porcine evolution and species splitting. You’ll learn about the pig’s status as a farm animal, the close relationship to and with human beings for good or bad, wild pigs, urban pigs, Porky, Wilbur, Miss Piggy and the bemused little guy in Stephan Pastis’s sardonic comic strip Pearls Before Swine. Pig also includes a timeline on the pig, an index, references and online resources, research citations expertly embedded in the text, and a prodigious number of unique, imaginative illustrations, reproductions, photos and other graphics—at least one on each page.

And Brett Mizelle is at least as interesting as his book, I found out when I heard him speak at a Long Beach Public Library event and then interviewed him. The first thing I asked him was, of course, “Why pigs?”, say, instead of horses or dolphins or cats or oysters.

“I grew up in Georgia, and there were pigs around,” Mizelle said. “There was a farm called White Acres—it was near to where I grew up, in South Atlanta. And one of the things I never understood was that at one point, it disappeared, becoming a suburban development. The pigs vanished. Of course, pigs are huge in with Georgia—the number-one meat I associate with where I grew up—it’s always pulled-pork barbecue for all the barbecues.”

This familiarity and curiosity led to Mizelle’s graduate school dissertation, which he says he’s still working on. It’s a project about animal exhibitions that emerged centuries before the circus. Mizelle describes a few of them in his book, but the one he was most charmed by was what he calls the “Wonderful Pig of Knowledge,” the learned pig.

“The blurring of the boundaries between humans and animals helps to account for the tremendous popularity of performances of ‘learned pigs,’ which amazed and amused audiences by spelling, solving mathematical problems and answering questions by picking up cards placed on the floor,” reads the introductory description on p. 97. Some pig, indeed—now, can he find truffles?

That pigs and humans have an integral but contradictory relationship has made the learned pig Mizelle’s totem, and that’s the essence of his book. “We associate the pig as a low animal of filth, and here he is being made high. That’s what got me associated with it, really—the challenge to the hierarchy. Jonathan [Burt] proposed that I do a much bigger project on the pig, and I guess that’s where it really started for me—pigs and performance. One way that it comes down to me is the contradiction, the paradox about the way we deal with nonhuman animals.”

Photos courtesy of CPPA 

All through Pig are contradictions. A salient one is that pigs are scorned as filthy, yet they’ve been used as stand-ins and organ donors for humans because of their similarity to us in size and physiology. (Here Mizelle assured me that stem-cell research is increasingly taking the place of sacrificing an animal). Another paradox, and one of my favorite parts of the book, is the dilemma that pigs created in 19^th-century New York City, when they were allowed to run free as garbage disposals but soon became what’s described as “urban nuisances” for several obvious reasons (one is amusingly depicted in an illustrated poem on p. 53 that shows a top-hatted city slicker dumped into the muck by a charging hog). All the chaos resulted in a law that allowed street pigs to be captured and impounded and the public paying for their garbage disposal instead of relying on nature.

Another is with the pig itself appearing as grateful as Li’l Abner’s Schmoo to willingly be a sacrifice human diets, as portrayed in advertisements as the “happy pig.”

Self-sacrificing pig. Courtesy Brett Mizelle

“People think of these nostalgic images of the pig, and at the same time, on any given day, we’re killing about 450,000 pigs for bacon and ham and sausage and God knows what else,” Mizelle said. “It’s a tension between respecting the individual or anthropomorphized pig, and we forget about the mass. It’s the same thing with dogs, the way we kill them at animal shelters—we focus on one dog who’s a pet, and we miss the mass. And pets—there’s two groups of animals—one we treat as family members, the other as food. And pigs are as smart and just as interesting.”

At this point, I had to ask Mizelle if his familiarity with pigs inspired him to change his diet.

“Oh, for sure. The point is, once you know how meat is processed, you really just can’t participate in it. I don’t want to be involved in that type of exploitation—the tail-docking, the gestation crates that were made illegal in California. I’m intrigued by the alternative methods: people say, what if we changed the way we raised pork—go back to a more traditional relationship where they’re more humanely treated. I see that argument, but I don’t see how that could be done when we realize that 99 percent of our meat is coming from this horrifying ‘meat industrial complex’ [this is explained in the book]. I think that when people see how the system works, they either go through change or get into some sort of system of willful denial.”

Bucolic vision of contented pigs on mural at Farmer John factory. Courtesy Brett Mizelle

In no part of Pig is any sort of philosophy on Mizelle’s part. He’s an educator, and his book lays out facts from which to draw our own conclusions. And it’s fun to read.

“I just want to encourage people to see beyond what they take for granted—how do we think beyond ourselves and include other species in our consciousness?” he said. “The book is one part of this, my other writings are another part of it, and teaching is another. My goal is to think beyond ourselves and include other people and other animals in our imaginations.”

“Pig” is available at Apostrophe Books. To read more about the Wonderful Pig of Knowledge and all things related to pigs and people, visit Mizelle’s “Pig of Knowledge” blog.

Pigs Is Pigs.

~ Short story by Ellis Parker Butler

Random Clawings

Remember Sandy’s Pets

Several pet rescues in the nation are asking for donations to save and shelter the pets displaced, frightened and injured in Sandy’s wake. They’ll thank you, and so will their humans. Two that we know of and respect are the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Donation2?df_id=11020&11020.donation=form1&s_src=webdn_sandy_ws110412, who regularly send out teams in disasters, and Alley Cat Allies http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=254m who traveled to Atlantic City to help the Boardwalk Cats (click on their link to read all about them!). Click on the organizations’ names to help.

Where, Oh, Where?

This is JD. He’s been missing from his neighborhood in Wrigley for several days. He’s 11 years old. If you see him in your neighborhood, please call his owner at (562) 225-6744.

Virtually Pets

A penny for your thoughts? Would you consider a Penne for your household? Penne is a neutered-male brown-and-white-tabby domestic shorthair, about three years old. He’s alert and very sweet, and likes to curl up to resemble the pasta he’s named for. Sauce up Penne’s life—he’s on the shelter side of Companion Animal Village at 7700 East Spring St., (562) 570-PETS. Ask for ID#A479637.

Pet Projects

Sixth-Annual VPI K9K Pet Cancer Awareness Walk, Sunday, Nov. 11, 10–11 AM (registration begins at 9 A.M, Shoreline Village Lighthouse Peninsula, 320 Golden Shore St., Long Beach

November is Pet Cancer Awareness Month, and on Sunday, hundreds of pets will be taking a 3K (1.8 mile) walk with their humans to raise funds for pet cancer research, the number one disease-related killer of dogs in the United States. All registration fees from the walk, sponsored by Veterinary Pet Insurance http://www.petinsurance.com/, will benefit the Animal Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit founded by veterinary oncologist Dr. Gerald Post. The foundation supports research to advance the prevention and treatment of cancer in people and pets.

Registrants for the walk will receive entry to the K9K, a commemorative T-shirt, a bandanna for their pooch, and other post-event refreshments and snacks. A majority of participants are walking in honor of a pet with cancer or one who had the disease and has passed, but as in all walks in support of a worthy cause, this is not a requirement, of course. For more information or to register, click here http://VPIK9KLongBeach.com. Click here http://www.acfoundation.org/whos-who/board.php to read about the Animal Cancer Foundation and Dr Post.

Low-Cost Vaccination Clinics, Various Long Beach-Area Parks, Nov. 10–Dec. 8

Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) sponsors regularly scheduled clinics to help keep your cat or dog health and safe. Vaccinations are provided by Southern California Veterinary Vaccine Clinics. Pricing is available here http:www.scvvc.com. Scheduled dates and locations for the rest of 2012 (subject to change) are as follows:

Click here for more information.

Special Adoption Fees to Celebrate spcaLA’s 135^th Anniversary, Nov. 17–18, P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village & Education Center, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach

It’s spcaLA’s birthday!  We were founded in 1877, and now we are celebrating 135 years of being the voice for the voiceless in Los Angeles. Adoption fees for all pets will be $18.77 during our anniversary weekend. Potential adopters must fill out a questionnaire and be approved for adoption by an spcaLA Adoption Counselor.  For adoption requirements, click here http://www.spcaLA.com .

Animal Match Rescue Team Fundraiser, Sunday, Nov. 18, 4–8 p.m., Liberty Art Gallery, 435 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach

Get ready to howl like a hound in hysterics and pick up a few canine-themed cards and prints to decorate your doghouse. And help rescue animals while you’re enjoying yourself. This free event features an art exhibit, crafts by local artists, a Chihuahua fashion show, raffles, prizes and much, much more! There will be stand-up comedy by Long Beach’s own Lynda Montgomery and live music by Jill Warren. All proceeds go toward AMRT little rescue dogs.

By performing, Montgomery hopes to spread awareness about the importance of spaying and neutering pets. She will also feature her much-talked-about phone tie. Printmaker and AMRT activist Jillian Clemmons will also address the need for donations by selling her dog-themed block-print stationery and prints to raise money for the rescue group. Her prints can be found here.

This event was sponsored by Paige Bauer and the volunteers of The Animal Match Rescue Team. Every cent raised will go to AMRT. For more information, click here.

 Second Annual Holiday Bone-anza and Craft Fair, Saturday, Dec. 1, 10AM–3PM, Good Neighbor Park, 2800 Studebaker Rd. Long, Beach, 90815

This annual fund-raiser presented by the Friends of El Dorado Dog Park will help pay for a place for the doggies to play and also help you with your holiday shopping. Volunteers are needed for this event; click here for information.

Donations Needed for Animal Care Services, Pitchford Animal Companion Village, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach, (562) 570-PETS

ACS thanks everyone who provided donations for their wish list! The list has been further winnowed down; if you feel generous or just have any of the following items around your house, bring them to the shelter (and take home a pet, if you are so inclined!).

• wet food for cats and kittens
• wet food for dogs and puppies
• Natural Balance Dog Food Rolls. See examples here.
• Two trash cans for our play yards that open with a foot press. See an example here.