Monster Pig

Jamison Stone poses with slain pig
Credit: Melynne Stone

Monster Pig, also known as Hogzilla II and Pigzilla, is the name of a large domestic farm-raised pig that was shot during a canned hunt on May 3, 2007 by an eleven-year-old boy, Jamison Stone. The location is disclosed as a 150 acre low fence enclosure within the larger 2,500 acre (1,012 hectare) commercial hunting preserve called Lost Creek Plantation, outside Anniston, Alabama, USA. According to the hunters (there were no independent witnesses), the pig weighed 1,051 lb (477 kg). As first reported by Associated Press, the problem with the 1,051 weight was that the scale at the Clay County Coop (according to Jeff Kinder, the man who gave the keys to the scale to the plantation's owner) only weighs in 10 pound increments. Thus, the one pound weight in 1,051 pounds could not have been measured and made the whole measurement, on its face, incorrect or in part an estimate.

The hunters also claimed that the pig was 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m) in length from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail. This has not been corroborated by any source and in any case, game animals aren't normally measured by stretching out their tails to exaggerate the size.

Despite the fact that the meat of a large, uncastrated pig is unpalatable due to boar taint, the Stones claim that the reason the hog was rushed to the slaughterhouse was so that it could be turned into approximately 500 to 700 lb (227 to 318 kg) of sausage. References for 150 acre low fence and the incorrect weight are found cited in Lexis Nexis: "Alabama wildlife officials investigate 'Monster Pig' saga" Associated Press, Wednesday, May 30, 2007, 10:42 pm Domestic News, 347 words By Jay Reeves; and " Boy Bags Wild Hog Bigger Than 'Hogzilla" Associated Press Online, May 25, 2007 Friday 8:21 PM GMT By Kate Brumback, Associated Press Writer.

Stone said he was using a Smith & Wesson Model 500 with a mounted holographic scope and ported barrel firing eight 350-grain Hornady cartridges into the pig. Stone chased the hog for three hours through hilly woods, firing repeatedly and missing, but finally wounded the animal enough times that it finally collapsed from blood loss and died.

Controversies

Images

Several days after the story broke, suspicion mounted over the authenticity of the photographic evidence. Retired New York University physicist, Dr. Richard Brandt, used perspective geometry to measure the photograph and showed that, as represented,the pig would be 15 ft (4.57 m) long--much larger than the 9 feet 4 inches claimed. Brandt's same study further measured that the boy in the photo was standing several metres behind the pig, creating the optical illusion that the animal was larger than its actual size. Others claim the photographs were digitally altered.

It has been proven that most of the pictures that were distributed to the media were altered through the use of digital enhancement and perspective to make the pig look much larger than he really was.

Despite irrefutable evidence that the photos were altered, the Stone family website continues to deny that the images were modified to make Monster Pig look larger than actual size.

Domestic versus feral

Shortly after the story hit the press, the truth about the origins of the pig were revealed. Four days before "Monster Pig" was shot, he lived on a nearby farm under the name "Fred" sometimes also referred to as fat bastard. The owners, Rhonda and Phil Blissitt, stated that the pig loved to play with their grandchildren and himself, his favorite treat was canned sweet potatoesand dominoes pizzas. Previous stories reported that the pig had escaped domestication, however the Blissits in fact sold the pig to the game preserve and he was released on the reserve four days before being hunted and killed by Stone. Once it was reported that Fred was a farm raised hog used for breeding, the issue was no longer whether or not the so-called Monster Pig should be considered a domestic pig killed during a canned hunt or a free range feral pig, killed in a regular hunt. According to Alabama law, four days does not constitute a feral animal.

The original owners of Fred, Phil and Rhonda Blissitt, sold him to the owner of the hunting preserve just four days before he was killed and served as roast gammon, and according to the Anniston Star report had raised him from a piglet as a pet. The Blissitts had been selling all of the pigs on their farm, and came forward as they were concerned that Fred was being passed off as a wild pig.

Weight verification

As reported by Associated Press, the problem with the 1,051 weight was that the scale at the Clay County Coop, according to Jeff Kinder, the man who gave the keys to the scale to the plantation's owner, only weighs in 10 pound increments. Thus, the one pound weight in 1,051 pounds could not have been measured and made the whole measurement unlikely to be correct. The hunters measured 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m) from the tip of the pig's snout to the end of its tail.

Media Ethics

Anniston Star Newspaper's Source Bias

StinkyJournalism.org discovered that although the Lost Creek Plantation web site boasted that the hunting there was "legendary," the operation was only four months old at the time of the hunt. Eddy Borden had big plans for developing his canned-hunt operation, the Clay County Times reported shortly before the hunt.

The Anniston Star newspaper reported on May 30th that hunt organizers O’Neal and Williams said they “knew the harvest of the pig alone would draw some attention but that the addition of Jamison doing the shooting moved the story to a higher level.”[1]

O’Neal told the paper: “We knew it was going to be something significant because of the sheer size. The fact that an 11-year-old did it with a pistol, that’s what perpetuated it and has kept it going.”

The Star continued: “O’Neal and Williams went on to say that a lot of this skepticism might have never happened. They had invited television stations to come with them on the hunt, but none showed up.”

It was the Star’s May 23, 2007 report[2] that first launched the story into the media. StinkyJournalism.org discovered that the paper also was invited to attend the hunt, but did not disclose this fact. The media ethics website also discovered that the main independent witness used to verify the hog’s size and skull for the Star, taxidermist Jerry Cunningham, had a business relationship with O’Neal for over 16 years.

That is to say, the main source used to verify the international "Monster Pig" news story had a financial relationship with an organizer of the hunt.

Aftermath

Grand Jury Investigation

As reported on January 29, 2008 by StinkyJournalism.org in a special to ESPNOutdoors.com, an Alabama grand jury was investigating the 11-year-old aspiring sharpshooter Jamison Stone on animal cruelty charges, along with his father Mike Stone; expedition leaders Keith O'Neal and Charles Williams; and Lost Creek Plantation grounds owner Eddy Borden.

The article ("Exclusive: Grand jury to investigate 'monster pig' kill") revealed information subpoenaed by the Clay County District Attorney Fred Thompson, which includes hundreds of hours of on-the-record interviews and research by StinkyJournalism.org director Rhonda Roland Shearer.[3]

Lost Creek Plantation Closing

Instead of creating a booming business, the "Monster Pig" shoot generated bad press. Lost Creek Plantation has apparently since been closed, and realtors have confirmed to Stinkyjournalism.org that it is up for sale.[4]

See also

• Chacoan Peccary
• Giant forest hog
• List of pigs

External links

• Official homepage