Farmer eaten by his own hogs
October 2nd, 2012
08:02 AM ET

Farmer eaten by his own hogs

Authorities in Oregon are investigating how a hog farmer was eaten by his animals.

The remains of Terry Vance Garner, 70, were found in his hog enclosure Wednesday, according to local news reports Monday.

The farmer had gone to feed the hogs, some weighing as much as 700 pounds, about 7:30 a.m., according to a report from CNN affiliate KMTR. After Garner was not seen for several hours, a family member went to check on him and found his dentures in the hog pen. Other remains were found, but the hogs had eaten most of the farmer, according to the report.

The sheriff's department is looking into the death.

"Due to the unusual circumstances, the Sheriff's Office is investigating to determine if foul play may have resulted in the death of Mr. Garner," Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier told CNN affiliate KVAL.

“For all we know, it was a horrific accident, but it’s so doggone weird that we have to look at all possibilities,” the Eugene Register-Guard quoted Frasier as saying.

Garner could have suffered a heart attack and fallen in the pen, or the hogs could have knocked him off his feet and then eaten him, Frasier told the newspaper.

The state of the remains made determining a cause of death difficult, according to the news reports. They had been sent to the University of Oregon and examined by a forensic anthropologist, the report said.

The farmer's brother, Michael Garner, told the Register-Guard that one of the sows had bitten the farmer last year after he accidentally stepped on a piglet.

“He said he was going to kill it, but when I asked him about it later, he said he had changed his mind,” Garner said.

Garner told the Register-Guard his brother was a Vietnam veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. The farm was "a life-saver," he said.

“Those animals were his life,” Garner told the Register-Guard.

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Filed under: Agriculture • Animals • Oregon
soundoff (641 Responses)
  1. Anne

    Poetic justice........

    October 2, 2012 at 9:06 am | Report abuse |
  2. vatoloke

    “Those animals were his life,” Garner told the Register-Guard.

    And his death.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:06 am | Report abuse |
  3. scieng1

    One of my uncles was eaten by hogs when still a small boy. Hogs are omnivores. If they have started eating meat (such as chickens and snakes), they can become very aggressive killers. This is why there is so much concern about wild (feral) hogs and the safety of both humans and pets when they are around. If you consider that a sow can have three litters of 8-10 per year, it is no wonder they never miss any scrap of protein or fat they can find.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:08 am | Report abuse |
    • mary

      Thanks – I was confused about the raw meat issue but you answered it , Thanks .

      October 2, 2012 at 9:10 am | Report abuse |
  4. Jim P

    Horrible way to go.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:08 am | Report abuse |
  5. mary

    I was under the impression hogs ate a variety of slop but not raw meat .
    When did hogs turn into cats ?
    Someone in the farm community Please correct me on this ? thanks . . .

    *

    October 2, 2012 at 9:09 am | Report abuse |
    • Robin Hood

      Hogs will fight each other and get a taste for blood. The reason breeding sows are kept in crates when they are delivering their young is they will EAT their young on occasion. I've been around hogs for many years and my wife can attest to the black & blue bite marks on the back of my legs after being in the hog pen, For the idiots that think they are not well fed, they prefer blood/meat over feed, so they go for that first.

      October 2, 2012 at 10:01 am | Report abuse |
  6. Why?

    Why do so many people squander their perhaps only way of having their voice heard all around the world?
    You pithy little microbloggers and constant jokers forget. People have sacrificed much to win your right to speak out. You disrespect them when you trash these threads with your mindless jibberish.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:09 am | Report abuse |
    • mary

      I think of the jibberish as an indicator , like tumors on the body are an indicator of cancer .
      The constant jokers are an indication of an over supply of humans and the need for a LOT more birth control .
      Nothing chooses to be born but people do have the power Not to replicate .
      More should pay attention to it and Not breed , Not replicate a problem .

      October 2, 2012 at 9:14 am | Report abuse |
  7. Keel Hauler

    Jeez, the Farm-experienced people have some scary advice. Who knew that pigs were so omnivourous? Not me...

    October 2, 2012 at 9:09 am | Report abuse |
  8. ab_17

    My great uncle was eaten by his pigs on his farm about 40 years ago. He went out to feed them and they believe he had a heart attack. It sounds horrific, but it's not uncommon.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:09 am | Report abuse |
    • Wisco30

      Tha'ts horrible 😦

      October 2, 2012 at 9:17 am | Report abuse |
  9. FL

    Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener...

    October 2, 2012 at 9:10 am | Report abuse |
    • JPS

      This story brings a whole new meaning to that (Oscar Meyer wiener) song!!

      October 2, 2012 at 9:26 am | Report abuse |
    • hannah007

      So glad I don't eat pork!

      October 2, 2012 at 9:29 am | Report abuse |
  10. KLARGAR

    Save a plant eat a cow
    I want meat I want it now
    I want it red I want it dead
    I'd eat people if I could
    they're made of meat they're
    just as good.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:11 am | Report abuse |
  11. Mike

    Foul play? no, I don't believe any chickens were involved

    October 2, 2012 at 9:11 am | Report abuse |
    • deadspam

      I'm going to duck a response to yu Mike...

      October 2, 2012 at 9:14 am | Report abuse |
    • marinedad05

      "Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair" – Macbeth, Shakespeare

      But Fowl isn't Foul, and neither is it fair 🙂

      October 2, 2012 at 9:30 am | Report abuse |
  12. Pablo

    So would eating one of those hogs be cannabalism?

    October 2, 2012 at 9:12 am | Report abuse |
    • Dontbeadork

      No. The molecules that made up the human proteins would have been broken down and reassembled into other proteins or biomolecules. Eating one of those hogs would only be cannibalism if you were yourself a hog

      October 9, 2012 at 11:52 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Crystal MethGal in Pensacola

    My pet boa ate my creamy baby so I I took Lady the Snake to the Everglades and let her go. My child is still on milk cartons.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:12 am | Report abuse |
  14. The Dude

    This is what happened to Hoffa and why you will never find his corpse.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:15 am | Report abuse |
  15. Bob

    This little piggy went to the market, and bought some fresh farmer.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:15 am | Report abuse |
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