Dear Friend,

Fairs across the country are hiding a dark secret behind the cheerful music and excited crowds: the fate of the cute piglets used in races. While fairgoers cheer on piglets running around a track in colorful pinnies while announcers make jokes like "fast food," there’s nothing entertaining about the humiliation these intelligent animals endure.

These piglets can start racing at just 5 weeks old having been separated from their mothers. In nature, they would remain with their mothers for up to 17 weeks, developing crucial social bonds and behaviors.

These intelligent animals—with cognitive abilities comparable to 3-year-old human children—are subjected to noisy crowds and unfamiliar environments that can cause distress. They’re even mockingly labeled as "future bacon" while performing, normalizing violence against these sensitive beings. Some racing pigs are ultimately slaughtered for meat or used for breeding once they are no longer considered entertaining.

We recently documented pig racing at the Orange County Fair, which claims to provide educational experiences about agriculture. However, there is nothing educational about forcing frightened animals to race for entertainment while trivializing their eventual slaughter.

This isn’t education—it’s exploitation.

If this outrages you too, please comment on our posts on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok and tag the Orange County Fair (@ocfair), politely asking them to stop using animals for entertainment. Your voice matters—together, we can show the OC Fair that the public doesn't support turning animal suffering into a spectacle.

For the animals,

P.S. Help us continue exposing the truth behind animal exploitation by making a donation today. Your support enables our investigations, legal advocacy, and education efforts that are changing the world for animals every day.