We studied how humans with differing experience with pigs interpret pig vocalizations. Forty-eight ethologists studying pigs, 31 pig-caretakers and 54 naive students evaluated the emotional intensity and valence (negative/positive) of recordings from two negative (castration, isolation) and two positive (reunion with the sow, post-suckling) contexts. They also identified the context in which the recordings were made. Castration vocalizations were evaluated as highly intense and unpleasant. The positive contexts were evaluated as low in intensity and positive in valence. Pig-caretakers evaluated the intensity of vocalizations as lower, and ethologists evaluated the valence as more negative. Successful classification exceeded chance for all four contexts, especially for castration. Ethologists achieved better recognition than students. Humans are able to classify and understand emotional content of pig vocalizations but this ability varies with an individual’s experience with pigs.