DATE: Friday, April 18, 1997                TAG: 9704180641

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A18  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: TAIPEI, TAIWAN                    LENGTH:   35 lines

NORFOLK ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP BLASTS TAIWAN'S PIG SLAUGHTER

Taiwan has bludgeoned, electrocuted or buried alive hundreds of thousands of pigs in a ``violent killing spree'' to curb an epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease, a Norfolk-based animal rights group charges.

The group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, urged Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui in a statement Wednesday to end the ``torture and violent slaughter'' of pigs and give them a ``humane death.''

The government's Agriculture Council said Thursday that the slaughter was being conducted as humanely as possible. In the early rush to control the disease, workers lacked proper equipment, but now all are using electrocution, said Chen Chung-chang, vice director of the Animal Industry Department.

Foot-and-mouth disease is caused by a highly contagious virus, but it does not harm humans. Pigs bleed and develop sores on the mouth and trotter. The animals do not eat and ultimately must be killed.

The government ordered mass inoculations and selective, preemptive slaughter, mobilizing army conscripts to kill pigs and take the carcasses to incinerators and burial pits.

Television has shown graphic images of older pigs being pushed into pits to be buried alive and younger pigs being electrocuted.

About 1 million pigs have been slaughtered, government figures show. Chen said 100,000 to 200,000 pigs are being slaughtered a day, and about 2 million will be killed before the job is done in two weeks.

Since the outbreak, pork prices have plummeted and the government has promised huge loans to farmers. The disease has hit 1,299 farms, where about 2.6 million pigs are raised. KEYWORDS: PETA PROTESTS

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