Pig slaughter is the work of slaughtering

domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus ''Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

s which is both a common

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...

activity as well as a

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

al feast in some European and Asian countries.

Agriculture

Pig slaughter is an activity performed to obtain pig meat (

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...

). It regularly happens as part of traditional and intensive pig farming. Pigs are slaughtered at different ages. Generally they can be divided into piglets, which are 1.5 to 3 months old; the

fattening pig {{Short pages monitor These rules track the relevant European Union regulation. Croatian

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

activists regard the traditional slaughtering process as cruel and outdated. They also question if European animal welfare and sanitary standards are really met, as there is not sufficient supervision available during the country-wide slaughter. Farmers are barely educated about the new standards they have to apply to, as this information is solely available through a website from the Ministry of Agriculture. The most vocal Croatian animal rights organization "Animal Friends Croatia" advocates banning the entire practice. In the process of Croatia's entry into the EU, there were widespread fears that new legislation would make ''svinjokolja'' as such illegal, forcing all pig slaughter to be conducted in controlled, inspected facilities. The fears were unwarranted because new regulation focused on stopping distribution of unhealthy meat products on the open market, rather than the traditional process where meat is consumed within household. Families check the meat for microbiological health and Trichinella

Czech Republic

In some countries traditional pig slaughter is a special event. Pig slaughter in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

has usually taken place during the winter months, when low temperatures make it easier to store fresh meat and meat products. Preparations for the event extended over a number of days and involved a variety of ceremonies. The event itself was accompanied by the making of traditional dishes such as '' jitrnice'', ''

tlačenka Tlačenka is the Czech and Slovak variety of head meat similar to Polish ''salceson Salceson is a type of meat found in Polish cuisine and other Central and Eastern European cuisines. There are several varieties of salceson which depend on ...

'' and '' škvarky''. After the slaughter, the young men of the village would visit neighbours and relatives bringing gifts of meat and fresh soup. The pig slaughter ended with what was called a ''karmina'', a special celebration held in the household where the slaughter had taken place. Invited guests, sometimes dressed in masks, would join in the feasting and drinking. In the past, the traditional pig slaughters usually ended on

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the ...

. Traditional pig slaughters ('' zabijačka'') still (as of 2011) take place in public at

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "F ...

celebrations in many Czech towns and villages. However the domestic pig slaughter is a disappearing tradition. During the

communist era A Communist Era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of Communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

it was cheaper and people preferred to raise and slaughter pigs at home. Many

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, orig ...

and

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. Th ...

n villagers worked in the JZD (collective farms) and it was easier for them to obtain the foodstuffs needed to fatten a pig. Since then pig raising and slaughtering has become less common in Czech villages and towns. It is also subject to regulation by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

. In 2009

Jan Březina Jan Březina (born 14 April 1954 in Konice) is a Czech politician and Member of the European Parliament with KDU-ČSL, part of the European People's Party and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He was ...

, Czech politician and

MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...

, commented that: "The discovery that in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

the animals are not paralyzed before slaughter provoked a hysterical reaction on the part of the European institutions. The older member states have begun calling for more stringent European regulation." The traditional domestic pig slaughter was a favourite theme of the renowned Czech painter

Josef Lada Josef Lada (born 17 December 1887 in Hrusice, Bohemia – 14 December 1957 in Prague, buried at Olšany Cemetery) was a Czech painter, illustrator and writer. He is best known as the illustrator of Jaroslav Hašek's World War I novel '' The ...

. In the play '' Prase'' (The Pig, 1987),

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and the ...

tries to buy a pig for a ''zabijačka'' by local villagers, with difficulty because as a

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

he is considered politically suspect. In 1968, Jiří Šebánek, a founder of the ''

Jára Cimrman Jára Cimrman or Jára da Cimrman (officially Jaroslav Cimrman) (), also known as "the Master", is a fictional Czech polymath, created by Ladislav Smoljak, Jiří Šebánek and Zdeněk Svěrák. The fictional personality is presented as a univ ...

Theatre'', wrote the play ''The Pig Slaughter at Home. Toilet Horror''.

Slovakia

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, the pig slaughter (''zabíjačka'', ''zakáľačka'', ''bravčovina'', ''svinský kar'', ''karmina'') was an essential part of the winter traditions from early medieval times. The pig slaughter was considered an important event in village society and an opportunity for families to get together. According to Katarína Nádaská of the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at

Comenius University Comenius University in Bratislava ( sk, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave) is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is name ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...

, the traditional period for pig slaughters usually started on 21 December, the feast day of St. Thomas. There was a special magical importance attached to the date and farmers believed that the meat of a pig slaughtered on St. Thomas Day would last longer. A second traditional pig slaughtering period began around

. In the past there were a number of traditional customs associated with the pig slaughter. After the slaughter, the girls of the household would collect the bones and scatter them around the yard for

love magic Love magic is the belief that magic can conjure sexual passion or romantic love. Love magic is often used in literature, like fantasy or mythology, and it is believed it can be implemented in a variety of ways, such as by written spells, dolls, ...

purposes. They believed that when a dog snatched the first bone, the girl who had thrown the bone would be the first one to marry.

References

External links

Slovak Pig Slaughter and Sausage Making – article in English with detailed pictures of a Slovak family slaughtering a pig in 68 steps

Moldavian Pig Slaughter – article in English with detailed pictures of a Moldavian family slaughtering a pig
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pig Slaughter Animal killing Meat industry Pig farming Chinese cuisine Taiwanese cuisine Vietnamese cuisine Czech culture Czech cuisine Slovak culture Slovak cuisine Serbian culture Serbian cuisine Croatian culture Croatian cuisine Macedonian cuisine Catalan culture Galician culture Spanish culture Ukrainian culture Ukrainian cuisine Bulgarian culture Bulgarian cuisine Russian culture Russian cuisine Polish culture Polish cuisine Belarusian culture Belarusian cuisine Slovenian culture Slovenian cuisine Slavic culture Slavic cuisine

Agriculture

Czech Republic

Slovakia

See also

References

External links