Delhi FFA pig found stabbed to death, hung, set on fire

The Merced County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an animal cruelty case at Delhi High School after an FFA pig was found over the weekend stabbed to death and with a rope around its neck.

The dead pig was discovered Sunday morning under a tree on the side of the school, near the tennis courts and baseball field. It had been stabbed, burned and apparently hung.

Student Jazmine Vierra, 17, said she went to campus at 9:30 a.m. Sunday to feed dairy cattle and “quickly noticed one of the pigs was missing.”

She called Will Snyder, the school’s agriculture teacher, who advised her to walk around the campus to see if the pig had escaped its pen.

She found it under a tree, with a rope hanging from a branch above.

“I was shocked,” Vierra said Wednesday. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s a sickening feeling and my heart dropped.”

Vierra said photos that appear to show several people assaulting the pig have been circulating on social media. One of the images shows someone holding a burning torch in front of the pig’s snout with a rope around its neck. Stab wounds on the pig appear to match those in the images.

One of four other pigs cared for on campus by FFA students was found with an inch-long knife wound in its left hind leg, Snyder said.

Deputies have requested surveillance footage from the school to identify possible suspects, Sheriff Vern Warnke said.

“This is a heinous crime,” Warnke said. “I am an animal lover, and, when this is over, I’m going to ask the District Attorney’s Office to prosecute to the fullest extent.”

The suspects likely will face felony animal cruelty charges, Warnke said.

Vierra said foam in the 125-pound pig’s mouth indicated it had been strangled.

Snyder said to drag the pig by force to where it was hung, stabbed and burned would take two adults or about three younger individuals.

“If you ever dealt with 100-pound piggies, they scream bloody murder,” Snyder said. “It’s a sound you’ll never forget.”

The fence where the pigs are penned is behind an almond orchard, Snyder said, and it is not uncommon that it gets broken into so kids can “go party on the school farm.”

Snyder said he’s put in two maintenance requests to have the fence fixed but nothing has happened yet.

“The bottom line is there is a lot of security issues,” he said.

The animals who are raised on the school farm are purchased by students through loans they take out, said Vierra, who is the dairy group leader and works with cattle.

The students are responsible for the costs of feeding them and any other equipment or veterinarian attention they need, Snyder said. The goal is to sell them at the Merced County Fair to pay back the loan and make a profit. Often, students find themselves paying out of pocket for expenses, he said, or having fundraisers.

It is unknown how the death of the pig, purchased two weeks ago for $350, will impact the financial responsibility of the FFA students, Snyder said.

She said she and other students are left frightened by the incident because people who abuse animals can have a tendency to be violent toward people.

“I’m disgusted a human had the audacity to do that to a living thing,” she said.

“I never thought anyone in Delhi would do this.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Delhi FFA pig found stabbed to death, hung, set on fire."