Pigs
Pigs are as smart as dogs, and we still keep them in crates
1.5BPigs killed in 2024 (FAO)
About 1.5 billion pigs are killed every year[6]. Pigs are as smart as dogs on many tests[1][2], they can learn to play video games[4], and they understand how mirrors work[5]. Given the space, they are social and clean animals[1], yet mother pigs are kept in gestation crates too small to turn around in. If you wouldn’t do this to a dog, there is no reason to do it to a pig.
1.5B
Pigs killed for food in 2024 (FAO)
About 4.1 million pigs every day, most of whom never see the sun.
Who they are
The main points first. Every claim is tied to a source below.
Pigs are as capable as dogs, and sometimes more persistent
A review comparing pigs and dogs found that they share a long list of thinking skills[1]. In one test, both were given an “impossible task,” a box they couldn’t open: the dogs looked to a human for help, while the pigs kept working at the box on their own[2].
Read full article →Pigs can play simple video games
Four pigs named Hamlet, Omelette, Ebony, and Ivory learned to steer a cursor on a screen with a joystick[1]. All four scored above chance even on the hardest targets, the ones with only one wall[1], and they did it with eyes on the sides of their heads and no hands[1]. What held them back was the joystick.
Read full article →Pigs can use a mirror to find food
After five hours with a mirror, seven of the eight young pigs used the reflection to find a hidden food bowl, walking around a barrier to reach it instead of going into the glass[1]. Pigs new to mirrors looked behind the mirror instead[1]. Finding the bowl that way means the pigs understood what the mirror was showing them.
Read full article →Pigs are clean and social when they have room
Given enough space, pigs keep separate areas for sleeping and for pooping[1]. They also pick up on each other’s feelings, catching the fear or calm of the pigs around them, which scientists call emotional contagion[1]. A gestation crate is built so a pig can’t do any of that. We don’t have to keep pigs like that, and we don’t have to raise them at all.
Read full article →Articles
Pigs are as capable as dogs, and we keep them in crates
Pigs do as well as dogs on many cognition tests, learn to use a mirror, and can even play simple video games with a joystick. About 1.5 billion were killed in 2024, and most of them never saw the sun.
Read full article →
Sources
Papers and datasets. Each card keeps its caveats, including small samples and single-animal cases.
[1]International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2015 · Review
Marino and Colvin reject the idea that pigs are far less intelligent than dogs
Marino and Colvin reviewed the research on pigs and rejected the idea that pigs are “significantly less intelligent than dogs.” Pigs’ memory, ability to tell objects apart, social complexity, and personalities are all well documented.
[2]Animal Cognition, 2020 · Observational
Faced with an impossible task, dogs look to people and pigs keep trying
Given a task they couldn’t solve, dogs looked to people sooner and for longer, while pigs kept working at the apparatus. The authors put the difference down to how each species is inclined to communicate, not to any lack of intelligence in pigs.
[3]Frontiers in Psychology, 2019 · Observational
Young pigs can learn to follow human pointing, like dogs
Young pigs and dogs can both learn to follow human pointing-style cues. Dogs pay more attention to the person as a social partner, but both species have the basic ability to learn the cue.
[4]Frontiers in Psychology, 2021 · Small sample
Four pigs learned to play a video game with a joystick
Four pigs (Hamlet, Omelette, Ebony, and Ivory) learned to use a joystick to move a cursor to targets for food. All four scored significantly above chance on their first attempts at one-walled targets, despite the limits of their snouts and vision.
[5]Animal Behaviour, 2009 · Small sample
Pigs can use a mirror to find hidden food
After five hours with a mirror, seven of eight pigs used the reflection to find hidden food, taking 23 seconds on average. Pigs with no mirror experience looked for the food behind the mirror instead. The researchers ruled out smell and location biases.
[6]Faunalytics / FAO · Observational
About 1.5 billion pigs were slaughtered in 2024
According to FAOSTAT, about 1.5 billion pigs were slaughtered in 2024, more than any other mammal raised mainly as a farm animal.