‘Girl on Fire’ Sells Pig for $111,000 in Parker County Livestock Auction

Jun 12, 2023

Summer Hardin burst into tears when lot number 22 brought in a shocking $111,000 on Saturday night at the Parker County Stock Show Sale of Champions.

Although one could say the Champion Berkshire Market Hog at the Parker County Stock Show was a great one, the money raised wasn’t about the pig. The money raised was to honor a young woman who wasn’t able to show that pig this year because she’s fighting a battle that no one saw coming.

A group of friends pulled together to buy 16-year-old Paizlee Hardin’s barrow in the premium auction. Since March 15, Hardin’s life turned upside down when this avid pig showman from Brock, Texas, lost her ability to walk and began experiencing “crazy symptoms” as she refers to the intense pain she began to experience that baffled doctors.

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Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.