Dear Editor:

Hold your nose, there are pigs everywhere and they are increasing daily by the thousands.According to Wikipedia Encyclopedia they do not say how many different breeds there are, but they say there are 918.3 million pigs in the world as we speak. Well, I've got news for "Wiki." I have recent found more pigs!Before I get into this, I would like to say I have personnally had "run-ins" if you will, with pigs in my 77 years on God's green earth! As a child my grandfather had a farm with lots of pigs. In my early teens I worked for a Ukrainian farmer and assisted with butchering a pig. I was set back when I saw the old man slit the throat and catch the blood in a basin to make blood pudding, stopping for a minute to scoop some up and drink it.I hope you're not eating your lunch while reading this! Later in life as a rookie policeman in Kutztown, in the 60s and 70s we were called "pigs" by the new drug culture. We also changed the name of our two cell lockup to a pigpen and had occasion to show them how comfortable they were! In 1971 while training at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy at Hershey I wrote an essay for class entitled "Punks, Pigs and Pastors" which won me the honor of class speaker at graduation.Again, later in life as police chief of East Penn Township while on routine patrol I had occasion to stop at supervisor Shellhammers farm at butchering time and watch them cut and process a pig.I said all that to say this: It wasn't until I started my daily walk up the towpath from Weissport to Jim Thorpe that I discovered new breeds of pigs. No, they were not wild boars! I found there are pigs that own dogs, pigs that go fishing, pigs that drink beer, and even pigs that driver stock cars and when the tires wear out they roll them into the canal! I guess you could say, "Some pigs are people!" Or did I say that wrong?Sincerely,Richard GrossLehighton