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Investigation After Farmer Eaten By His Pigs

Investigation After Farmer Eaten By His Pigs

US officials are trying to determine how a farmer came to be eaten by his own herd of pigs.

Terry Garner, 70, set out to feed his animals on his farm in Coos County in Oregon, but never returned.

A family member found Mr Garner's dentures and pieces of his body in the pig enclosure several hours later, but most of his remains had been consumed.

District Attorney Paul Frasier said several of the animals weighed 318kg (700lbs) or more.

Mr Frasier said Mr Garner may have had a medical emergency, such as a heart attack, or was knocked over by the animals, and was then killed and eaten.

He pointed out that at least one of the animals had previously bitten Mr Garner.

But the possibility of foul play is being investigated as well.

"For all we know, it was a horrific accident, but it's so doggone weird that we have to look at all possibilities," Mr Frasier told local paper The Register-Guard.

A pathologist was unable to identify a cause or manner of death, the newspaper reported. The remains will be examined by a forensic anthropologist at the University of Oregon.

Mr Garner was a "good-hearted guy" who cared for several huge adult sows and a boar named Teddy, said his 75-year-old brother Michael.

He added: "Those animals were his life. He had all kinds of birds and turkeys that ran all over the place. Everybody knew him."

Michael Garner said one of the large sows bit his brother last year when he accidentally stepped on a piglet.

"He said he was going to kill it but when I asked him about it later he said he had changed his mind," the brother said.

Most pigs are raised until they reach a market weight of between 113kg (250lbs) and 136kg (300lbs), while breeding sows rarely weigh more than 181kg (400lbs).