Laurentian ski club worried about university's plans to bury dead pigs on campus

Members of the Laurentian Nordic Ski Club are concerned with Laurentian University's school of forensic's plan to bury dead pigs on campus this spring.

The university's forensic science students plan to bury and dig up five pig carcasses weighing as much as 36-kilograms this June to learn how they decay. It's part of a class to help students learn how to uncover and deal with human remains — pigs are the closest thing to human flesh. 

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The program is considering three locations on campus to contain the carcasses, which will be fenced off to prevent people from disturbing it. The purpose is to simulate a crime scene. 

I'm sure people have walked by, on hikes in the woods, things that are dead and not realized that they're there.- Scott Fairgrieve, Laurentian University forensics professor

"Apparently they're going to put this facility right on top of our bunny hill," said Godwin, who's also a member of the ski club. "It's right near our loop."

"I just wonder if there are locations further out a little bit more isolated — not on a main trail that we've put a lot of money into."

Ski club has contract with university

Godwin is worried the smell will attract predators and endanger the hundreds of people who use the trails all year round.

"I don't know what kinds of animals and stuff will be attracted. I don't know how safe it's going to be for [my 5-year-old son] to go out there."

The ski club has a contract with the university, according to ski club president Perry Sakki. The club maintains the trails in return for use of campus land. The contract, however, doesn't mention pig remains, said Sakki.

"We never thought of this potential ever happening. That was not a concern back then. It puts us in an awkward position," said Sakki.

"It would have been nice to have been told beforehand."

In an interview with CBC News, forensics professor Scott Fairgrieve — the man behind the class project — addresses a number of the concerns.

Fairgrieve said even though the issue of smell is something people often bring up, the smell of the pig carcasses will only last a limited period of time because of the time of year.

'Fairly effective' means to mitigate predators

And distance matters, too. 

​"Once you're about a good 30 feet away, you're not really going to detect it unless you've got a particular wind and the scent is directly at you and you've got a fairly keen sense of smell," he said. "I'm sure people have walked by, on hikes in the woods, things that are dead and not realized that they're there."

"In this case, we're choosing an area that this will be a little more sheltered so that the smell issue will not affect people that would just happen to be going by."

He also said the fence is being put up to prevent new wildlife from coming to the area to scavenge. It's meant to be "as unappetizing for various animals that might be going through as possible."

"They think that this is, all of a sudden, going to cause a bear colony to just grow like crazy on campus," he said. "But there are means of mitigating this that, I've been told, are fairly effective."

Fairgrieve said the project could run for years.