HAKKA FARMER LIN TUNG-TSE AND FAMILY POSE WITH A GOD PIG IN HSINCHU, 2003-08-17 (photo)

A Hakka farmer Lin Tung-tse and his family pose next to a giant black pig, the 960-kg winner of the "Pigs of God" contest, before a sacrificial ceremony in Hsinchu county, Taiwan August 17, 2003. The animal was the largest of about 30 pigs killed at the Yimin Temple in Hsinchu as part of a religious ritual to worship the ancestors of the Hakka people. Animal rights groups have criticised the traditional practice, in which the pigs are castrated at a young age and force-fed to increase their weight before being slaughtered for the celebrations, and has called on Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian to stop it. REUTERS/Simon Kwong SK/FA