When I was a kid, Thanksgiving day was hog killing day. It was cold enough, and everyone was off work.
All the neighbors would bring theirs in, and we'd have 20 people processing pork.
Pop them between the eye, string them upside down in a tree, bleed them*, gut them, scald them, and butcher them into the various cuts of meat. Wrap up the extremely long day canning the meat and making sausage.
I hated Thanksgiving but enjoyed the pork all winter long.
As for the story in question, I hope the pig killers have to pay a hefty settlement. It won't bring back the family's pets, but that's bullcrap.
*The term bled like a stuck pig isn't just a saying.