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.
It's easy to make asinine comments and think they are cute, but that is all they are – asinine comments. If the guy was lucky, he was dead before they got to him. It's a weird, sad story.
Glad to see someone else thinks these comments are disturbing...
"Those animals were his life" ... and his death :/
Ha ha. Charade you are!
Once you feed 'em bacon, pretty much anything goes after that.
Wow...ruthless comments. Scarey to think that people actually find a story of someone getting killed amusing.
Animal rights acivists need to understand that such things as gestation crates were invented (by a doctor of veterinary medicine), not to torture but to provide an environment where baby pigs could be born, get to their feet and find where the milk supply was to fill their empty newborn tummies without being crushed or eaten by their mothers. Crates also serve to protect peaceful sows and piglets from attack by dominent, bullying sows who view timid ones and their piglets as dinner or something to pick on... protects the care-provder, also. If the sows are thriving that means they are receiving what they need, including protection.
No, they heard you had first dibs on them and they respected your wishes.
LOL that kinda makes sence. but how in the HELL did they eat him thats just disgusting. now im really scared of going to a farm.
how would i go about getting a pack of center cut pork chops from that farm???
Don't know what else to say except wow!
Its a revolution and the hogs are revolting. Good for them.
He should have listened closer to the speech and applause coming from inside the barn...
But they will learn soon enough... all pigs are equal BUT...!
I thought pigs were strictly vegetarian...poor man, I hope he did have a heart attack first and would not have suffered this horrible death with awareness of being eaten.
Nope, they're omnivores, just like us humans.
Hey Rafalca, I hope you're taking notes.
Did they ask for apple sauce?
This is not at all a repeat of last night's episode of Copper. Police suspect a small child with a big axe.
But was he kosher?