Pig-racing teacher
rebukes PETA claim
Attraction owner and
family enjoy taking
show on the road
By dave goldberg
Staff Writer

JACKSON — For more than a decade, a local teacher has been casting his checkered flag before swine.

"I began getting involved with pig racing about 12 years ago," said David Feimster, owner of F&F Productions. "This is an event that has been around for approximately 18 or 19 years. It was started by kids from a 4-H Club in Maryland who were having fun."

Recently officials in North Brunswick, Middlesex County, opted to disallow pig racing, and subsequently Feimster, to be part of its annual Youth Sports Festival due to threats from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

PETA sent a letter to festival organizers claiming that the event hurt the pigs and that many racing pigs are mistreated by their owners.

Feimster said he does not approve of treating animals poorly and would not do so.

"Pig racing is a fun activity and there is no reason to treat the pigs poorly," Feimster said. "We are out there to entertain people and have a good time. You can teach an animal anything by treating it well and giving it treats. They are well taken care of. There is no need to ever treat them badly. It doesn’t have to be that way and shouldn’t be."

There is a constant watch kept on these activities to make sure there is no wrongdoing, according to Feimster.

"You have people from the health department, the U.S. Department of Agri-culture and county fair boards come around to make sure there is no foul play and everything remains all right," Feim-ster said. "There is always someone walking the grounds keeping an eye on the animals. The animals are well taken care of because the most important thing is to be friendly with the pigs."

Although there is a great deal of work involved with running a pig racing show, Feimster said he enjoys it.

"There is a lot of work involved in getting them ready for training, keeping them clean and feeding them," Feimster said. "I work with the pigs every day. It is a daily task, like anything else. It is a lot of fun. I have had four children who all have come on the road with me. We have traveled and it is just great because you get to meet many different people and we have a lot of fun."

Feimster said he has traveled to many fairs around the country.

"I have worked at the Daisy Fair in East Brunswick, the Ocean County Fair, the Burlington County Fair, the Maryland State Fair, the Hartford County Fair and the Howard County Fair," Feimster said. "I have [traveled] as far as Illinois, Florida and Maine. If there is ever any concern at any of the fairs, someone will get a phone call from local animal control to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to check it out. State veterinarians will come by to check things out to make sure everything is acceptable. It is usually the case where one or two people have an objection to the event. The pigs are out in the public enough that if there was wrongdoing, it would be known."

Feimster said PETA did not even know who he was when they complained about him.

PETA cruelty caseworker Amy Rhodes said in a prior interview that she did not know who would be running the event in North Brunswick when she sent the letter to festival organizers, but that such events were wrong by nature.

"She admitted that she didn’t even know me," Feimster said. "This is an event that has been occurring for 19 years. It is funny that she said she considers it harmful to children. This is a group that has supplied money to help people who have been arrested for violent offenses."

While he said he enjoys his work with pig racing, Feimster also enjoys his work in the field of teaching. He has been teaching for 25 years at the middle school level. He taught in Ocean Township for six years and has taught for the last 19 years in Jackson.

He has participated in many different activities and honors including lecturing at the National Middle School Conference.

One of the reasons Feimster said he loves pig racing is the joy and fun it brings to children.

"I will keep doing it, because it is fun," Feimster said. "You get out and have fun with the kids and just have a good old time. I love the fact that I get to do something that creates enjoyment."