A butcher died while trying to kill a pig Friday at a Hong Kong slaughterhouse, according to news reports.
The incident, termed by some news outlets as “a freak accident,” was portrayed by the New York Post as the animal’s “ultimate revenge.”
It took place at the city’s Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse, according to reports, in the northern region near the border of mainland China.
Police told CNN the 61-year-old butcher had shot the pig with an electric stun gun and was preparing to butcher the animal with a 15-inch meat cleaver when the pig regained consciousness and knocked him down.
“A colleague found the man unconscious with the cleaver in his hand and a wound on his left foot,” CNN reported.
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The man’s cause of death has not been determined, though the wound was believed to have been from the cleaver.
The Hong Kong Labour Department is investigating the incident, CNN reported.
“The Labour Department is saddened by the death of the person and expresses its deepest sympathy to his family,” it said in a statement.
“We will complete the investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the accident, ascertain the liability of the duty holders and recommend improvement measures. We will take actions pursuant to the law if there is any violation of the work safety legislation.”
One plucky pig has delivered the ultimate act of revenge, killing a butcher with the cleaver that was about to be used on him.https://t.co/Ym1jE4W3uw
— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) January 23, 2023
According to a paper published by PubMed, an online database maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “Domestic pigs are usually placid but they can become aggressive if disturbed and attack humans producing severe injuries due to trampling, kicking and biting.”
That article cited the case of a 49-year-old farmer found dead in a pig sty with a sow and her piglets.
“The death resulted from severe bleeding from massive upper extremities injuries due to a domestic pig attack,” the article stated.
Feral pigs have also been known to attack and kill people.
In 2019, The New York Times reported an incident in which a woman was killed in the front yard of a rural Texas residence, just feet from the front door of a home where she worked as a caretaker for an elderly couple.
She had just gotten out of her vehicle and was heading for the house, according to the Times.
“She was attacked by a herd of feral hogs before she could make the short walk,” the news outlet reported.
The incident was the fifth known fatal wild hog attack in the United States since 1825, according to the Times.
