Chinese netizens are up in arms after a video of a bungee-jumping pig at a tourist site in Southwest China surfaced online. The video was taken on January 18, as a marketing effort to mark the end of The Year of the Pig and to promote the opening of a bungee-jumping attraction at the site.
Meixin Red Wine Town tourist site in Chongqing was responsible for the stunt, according to BBC News. In the video, the pig can be heard squealing, while it has also been tied up to prevent it from moving during the jump. Onlookers told local media that a number of workers had to drag the pig to the edge of the bungee jump, before pushing it off.
Interestingly, an article from Tencent News pointed out that if the point of the article was to achieve notoriety and fame, then the scenic spot was successful, as the stunt quickly went viral on Weibo.
According to that article, the stunt is technically legal, since laws protecting animal welfare have yet to be enacted in China. As such, the case has highlighted the need for laws that punish cruel acts like those which occurred at the tourist site.
In response to the video, one netizen wrote, “These people are sick,” while another said, “People use animals as experimental items for entertainment. Should animals be abused if they cannot resist?"
Watch the footage of the bungee jumping pig below (VPN off):
The stunt comes after a significantly bad year for pigs in China, ironically during the Year of the Pig. African swine fever (ASF) has decimated the country’s pig population since August 2018, wiping out 40% of the country’s sow herd, according to South China Morning Post.
[Cover image via @央视新闻/Weibo]
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