Bulgarian seeks redress over gay pig

Porker batting for the wrong side

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Science, 17th November 2004 12:46 GMT

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Bulgarian farmer Galen Dobrev is claiming substantial damages from the breeder who sold him a prize-winning pedigree pig after the porker turned out to be a little more pink than the average Babe, Ananova reports. An outraged Dobrev told the court where he is sueing the breeder: "It's a disgrace, all he was interested in was other male pigs."

Dobrev has deployed a range of expert witnesses - in the form of fellow farmers - and photographic evidence to prove the 220lb boar's homosexuality. He lamented that when the pig had been outed he proved impossible to sell, forcing a premature termination and conversion into sausages. For his part, the breeder claims that had Dubrov waited until the pig reached sexuality maturity, he would have come around to the delights of rubensesque sows.

We're not so sure. Regular readers will know that we have been taking a close interest in homosexuality among farmyard animals - specifically ovine and bovine lesbianism. Indeed, Australian researchers recently demonstrated that sapphism among cows may well be caused by environmental pressures and the stress of domestication. On the other hand, another team of boffins discovered that gay sheep showed a significant difference in the structure of their brains compared to their straight counterparts - thereby suggesting that there are physiological differences which determine sexual proclivity.

If that's true, then the breeder knows full well that the pig was either gay in the first place, or likely to end up that way as a result of his environment. We will make our research fully available to Mr Dobrev, should he require it. ®