Since the mass killing of pigs in 2009, Cairo has become much dirtier. Foreign companies have been hired to take care of some of the waste. But Ragi says their methods of dumping waste in landfills is much worse for the environment.

The killings left thousands of pig farmers without jobs. And only a few butchers – people who cut and sell meat – are still in business. They depend on expensive imports that have cut down on their trade.

The majority of Egyptians are Muslim, and the religion opposes the use and eating of pigs. Christians are free to eat pork meat. And farmers have built a new center for slaughtering the animals in hope that the trade will restart. But the government has yet to approve it.

Butcher Saiid Hakim says officials tell them to be patient. He says that makes him wonder if the government will approve the new center.

Father Samaan Ibrahim is with Saint Samaan Church in the hills above Garbage City. He denies that there are pigs in Garbage City. But he sees no reason there should not be.

In some ways, the pigs are being left in peace. The current government is strongly sympathetic to strict Islam. But it has not been able to take strong control of the country’s basic rules and regulations.So the pigs live on – as long as they stay out of sight. I’m Christopher Cruise.

And I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. Thank you for being with us on this Thursday, the sixth day of June. 69 years ago, in the early morning hours, the Allies landed on the coast of France, as thousands of troops began to push Hitler’s forces back into Europe.It was probably the most significant military invasion in modern history.