Farmers dump piglets at political offices

OTTAWA, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Angry Canadian pig farmers left 14 piglets in pens outside the offices of the premier of Ontario and his agriculture minister to protest pork prices.

No one has claimed responsibility for the incidents Tuesday morning outside Premier Dalton McGuinty's office in Ottawa and at Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky's office in Belleville, the Ottawa Sun reported Wednesday.

A note left with the seven outside McGuinty's office said: "Because of market conditions and H1N1, we are no longer able to care for these pigs."

A generally cool summer led to a decline in both sales and prices of pork. The initial name for H1N1, swine flu, also kept consumers from buying, the report said.

Pig farmer Paula Fletcher told the Sun farmers are losing about $50 a pig every time they send one to market.

Last week, the federal government pledged $92 million to help pork producers, now in a fourth consecutive year of record losses.

Meanwhile, the 14 abandoned piglets were taken by local humane societies, and officials said if they can find out who left them, charges were a possibility.