Obviously cruel, but to be fair, also clearly unusual.
I mean, there's a lot to dislike about regular farming practices, but you can't really point at a pair of loonies like these guys and say that this is why farming is bad.
But the point is it isn't a one off. He wasn't even doing it on purpose - he just didn't notice or care that the animal was still alive. The only reason this came to light is because a cop drove past and noticed it. Culled cattle are often moved this way. Also a lot of cows that are shot don't die right away in slaughter houses, esspecially, where they are often boiled alive. We think of farming as a nice simple process of caring for animals and slaughter as a simple clean act but it often isn't. This is just a rouge example that happened to get caught.
Of course, like I said, there's a lot to dislike about regular farming practices. If there wasn't something extraordinary about this case though then it would hardly be in the papers ("farmer kills cow" as a headline is fairly uninspiring). Maybe that certain unusual factor is the getting-caught part rather than the act itself however, in which case you'd be quite right.
From what I have seen (growing up in a small rural area next to dairy and chicken farms) usually you want to get the animal dead as swiftly and quietly as possible. There is no point in making it suffer or pass on any disease. This is in both the animal and the farmer's interest.
Without a doubt the men involved in this situation were negligent and lazy but I do not think they were acting maliciously.
Farming is not a nice simple process - it is a smelly, dirty, messy, tiring, difficult and often potentially fatal livelihood.
I know what my steak/eggs/bacon goes through to get from the field to my plate and am at ease with it. I have been involved in calving/lambing season & I feel sorry for people who don't have a clue how their nicely packaged bit of protein came about.
Now I miss spring in Nz because there is nothing cuter than lambs bouncing about!
That is indeed truly appalling and deeply disturbing. Not, however a reason to condemn farming as whole. If you need an antidote I suggest reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingsall's essay on ethical animal farming in "The River Cottage Meat Book." A good read for anyone be they omnivorous, vegetarian or vegan.
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I mean, there's a lot to dislike about regular farming practices, but you can't really point at a pair of loonies like these guys and say that this is why farming is bad.
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From what I have seen (growing up in a small rural area next to dairy and chicken farms) usually you want to get the animal dead as swiftly and quietly as possible. There is no point in making it suffer or pass on any disease. This is in both the animal and the farmer's interest.
Without a doubt the men involved in this situation were negligent and lazy but I do not think they were acting maliciously.
Farming is not a nice simple process - it is a smelly, dirty, messy, tiring, difficult and often potentially fatal livelihood.
I know what my steak/eggs/bacon goes through to get from the field to my plate and am at ease with it. I have been involved in calving/lambing season & I feel sorry for people who don't have a clue how their nicely packaged bit of protein came about.
Now I miss spring in Nz because there is nothing cuter than lambs bouncing about!
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