Pigs get rescued from flooded farm after photos of distraught farmers go viral

Viral photographs of two distraught farmers in China may have sparked a rescue mission to save 3,000 pigs that were imperilled by severe flooding. Two farmers in Anhui province were photographed breaking down as they looked at their pigs struggling, up to their snouts in water. Their farm lies near the banks of the Yangtze River, which has overflowed after days of heavy rainfall. It appeared that the pigs would become victims of the floods, which have killed more than 100 people and caused severe property damage in communities along the river.

A company has stepped in, saving around 1,000 pigs from their watery graves. People's Daily reports that only 1,000 of the pigs were mature enough to be slaughtered... so they were the ones "saved."
The Xishang Group, the company heading the rescue, says that the operation was quite expensive. Lu Weishi, a company director told The Paper: "Financially, this is actually a loss for us. But social responsibilities are more important."