40° 24' N , 3° 42' E

While I am not that much of a vocal animal rights activist, I've read in the newspapers today that three wild pigs in the Baghdad zoo were killed today amidst fears of swine flu contagion, and that Egypt announced that it is planning on exterminating its entire pig population.  Many of these pigs (about 250,000) are reared by garbage collectors in the slums of Cairo, who use the pigs to dispose of organic waste.  They belong and are eaten by the Coptic Christian community in these shantytowns.  In short, they are a source of livelihood for these people, and they are not being compensated.  The UN condemns the slaughtering of pigs as a response to swine flu, and the WHO has made clear that this is an inadequate response to the H1N1 virus as there is no evidence that these pigs were transmitting the flu.