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'Praying' pig at Chinese temple becomes a viral star

The pig's owner, identified by the surname Huang, said the animal was sent to a slaughterhouse before he learned of the animal's viral fame.

By Ben Hooper
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WENZHOU, China, March 3 (UPI) -- A pig has become a viral star in China after escaping from its farm and bowing its head in front of a Buddhist temple in what appears to be a prayer pose.

The pig was photographed and videotaped Feb. 22 outside the temple in Wenzhou when the animal struck a bowed pose that witnesses said made it appear the pig was praying -- although others hypothesized the animal may have been kneeling as a result of a Vitamin E deficiency.

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Witnesses said the pig was in the prayer position for a long period of time before a monk arrived and chanted sutras for it.

The pig's prayers seem unlikely to have been answered, as the animal's owner, identified by the surname Huang, revealed the animal was sent to a slaughterhouse after being recaptured.

Huang said the pig escaped his farm along with two others and he was unaware of its actions at the temple or its viral stardom before sending the animal off to be slaughtered.

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