I found a reference to the piglets that were euthanized in Manitoba here:
1,300 piglets euthanized – - SwineWeb.com - Latest Swine, Pork News and Information
In the same article, this was stated:
Doug Chorney, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said he fears similar stories could emerge in the coming weeks because troubles in the pork industry mean weanlings are now essentially worthless.
Chorney said farmers face a crisis of low prices for pork, combined with high prices for feed that are being driven by severe drought in the U.S.
“I phoned my neighbour who’s been a lifetime hog producer and is a very astute business person,” said Chorney, who noted the neighbour’s farm has raised hogs for 75 years.
“He said, ‘We’re depopulating our barn and by November there will be no hogs left.”‘
The Manitoba government says it immediately launched an investigation when it found the piglets. The province isn’t naming the farm or the community it was in, adding no other information will be released due to its investigation.
Gary Stordy, a spokesman for the Canadian Pork Council, said that while he doesn’t know anything about the specifics of the Manitoba case, the conditions in the hog industry now are ripe for it.
Stordy explained that because the cost of feed has spiked so quickly, hog producers have been forced to sell animals because their credit is being pushed beyond their limits. That, in turn, drives down the prices for pork, and producers end up pressured from both directions.
I did search for other cases of euthanasia but haven't been able to find any, although I did find references to the collapse of the hog market in Canada due to high feed prices, etc. in this article:
Ontario Farmer
I would rather give a piggie away than to kill it because I couldn't feed it, but if I had several hundred, perhaps it is too hard to give that many away?
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