Pigs
As smart as dogs — and still kept in crates
1.5BPigs killed in 2024 (FAO)
About 1.5 billion pigs were killed in 2024 — about 4.1 million every day. Most never see the sun. They match dogs on many cognition tests, play simple video games with their snouts, and after a few hours with a mirror use the reflection to find hidden food. Plant protein builds the same muscle they are killed for. Gestation crates make their social lives and clean habits impossible on purpose. We do not have to harm or eat animals at all.
1.5B
Pigs killed for food in 2024 (FAO)
About 4.1 million pigs every day. Most never see the sun.
Who they are
The main points first. Every claim is tied to a source below.
As capable as dogs — sometimes more persistent
A comparative review found that pigs share a long list of cognitive abilities with dogs. In one 'impossible task,' dogs looked to the human for help. Pigs kept working the box. That is not stupidity. That is independent problem-solving.
They can play simple video games
Hamlet, Omelette, Ebony, and Ivory learned to steer an on-screen cursor with a joystick. All four scored above chance on the hardest one-walled targets, despite eyes on the sides of their heads and no hands. The limit was the controller, not the pig.
They read a mirror
After five hours with a mirror, seven of eight young pigs used the reflection to find a hidden food bowl — going around a barrier instead of into the glass. Naive pigs looked behind the mirror. That is using a representation of the world.
They are social and clean when given space
Pigs use separate areas for sleeping and dunging when they are given the space. They show emotional contagion — catching the fear or the ease of the pigs beside them. Gestation crates make all of that impossible on purpose. We do not have to keep them that way — we do not have to raise them at all.
Sources
Papers and datasets. Caveats stay on the card — small samples and single animals included on purpose.
International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2015 · Review
Thinking pigs: cognition, emotion, and personality
Marino & Colvin review the pig literature and reject the idea that pigs are 'significantly less intelligent than dogs.' Memory, object discrimination, social complexity, and personality are well documented.
Animal Cognition, 2020 · Observational
Who turns to the human? Pigs vs dogs on an impossible task
Dogs oriented to people sooner and longer. Pigs persisted on the apparatus. The authors point to species predispositions in communication — not a pig intelligence deficit.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2019 · Observational
Pigs and dogs following human communicative cues
Young pigs and dogs can both learn human pointing-style cues. Dogs treat the human as a more salient social partner; the raw capacity to learn the cue is not the difference.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2021 · Small sample
Acquisition of a joystick-operated video task by pigs
Four pigs (Hamlet, Omelette, Ebony, Ivory) learned to move a cursor to targets for food. All were significantly above chance on first attempts at one-walled targets despite snout and visual constraints.
Animal Behaviour, 2009 · Small sample
Pigs learn what a mirror image represents
Seven of eight pigs with five hours of mirror experience found hidden food using the reflection (mean 23 seconds). Naive pigs searched behind the mirror. Odour and location biases were ruled out.
Faunalytics / FAO · Observational
Global slaughter — pigs
FAOSTAT 2024: about 1.5 billion pigs slaughtered. Second-most killed land mammal after humans' other farmed species; the most killed mammal raised primarily as farm animals.