Schoolkids vote to send lamb to slaughter

[Amaris]

Unbalanced how?

As in they had no problem naming and befriending an animal they were going to slaughter. I've been a meat cutter, so the act doesn't bother me, it's the processes leading up to it.


J.

I don't find it odd at all, actually. Granted they didn't know beforehand what was going to happen, but they know enough to send it to the abattoir so yay for them knowing the process.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I do want to be clear that I'm not saying the kids are psycho or something. I guess I'm just uneasy about it for some reason.

Edit: That was for JustKate, also. I realized that I missed your question.


J.

 

[JustKate]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I do want to be clear that I'm not saying the kids are psycho or something. I guess I'm just uneasy about it for some reason.Edit: That was for JustKate, also. I realized that I missed your question.

Children can suddenly display a...a pragmatism, an unexpected practicality, that can totally disconcert us adults. (And then the next second of course, they might not be pragmatic at all.) This sounds like an example of that to me. Anyway, I do understand why it makes you uneasy, J. I don't share that uneasiness in this instance, but I am pretty sure I know what you mean.

 

[cultcross]

An animal born into captivity knows nothing else. An animal born into the wild and placed in captivity tends to seek escape back to the wild.

Displaying an instinct to return to familiar (and hence known to be safe) territory and feeding grounds is not the same as wanting 'freedom' in anything like the sense that we use it in.

It doesn't bother me, but maybe I'm odd. Naming it isn't the same as making it a pet. For all we know, only one or two kids really thought of it as a pet, and perhaps they were the ones who named it. Or that might have been a teacher's or a parent's idea. The others, assuming they aren't twisted in some way, clearly thought of it as livestock that was destined for the table.

Farmers don't name their livestock - well, some might name dairy cows since they keep them for several years, but not anything destined to be meat in the near future. And most don't name their milking cows either, though they do get to know them as to disposition and whether they're good mothers or not, stuff like that.

Well we name our dogs on the Force; but they are 100% working animals, not pets. Treating them as pets early on ruins their usefulness later on, and treating them as pets later on will probably get you bitten - dogs trained to defend their handler don't tend to take kindly to strangers going all googly-eyed over them. A name doesn't imply status as a pet.

 

[Deckerd]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I do want to be clear that I'm not saying the kids are psycho or something. I guess I'm just uneasy about it for some reason.


J.

I think you're anthropomorphosing kids.

Seriously though, many kids grow up on farms where the cycle of rearing livestock is part of everyday life. Since these children too are under no illusion about where meat comes from, are they creepy too?

 

[JuanBolio]

Displaying an instinct to return to familiar (and hence known to be safe) territory and feeding grounds is not the same as wanting 'freedom' in anything like the sense that we use it in.

I'm not so sure the distinction is as great as you make it out to be.

 

[bigdaddy]

Six months seem young, but why the hell not? That's life, live with it. I have been getting into arguments online about the local schools. The parents are all over protecting assholes who don't know jack shit about the real world today.

I rather have a cow because beef is better, or even a pig, i don't like sheep, taste like dirt.

 

[Bluesteel]

I actually respect these kids. They don't live in a fantasy world. They know the worth of a farm animal is in the money they bring in. Those adults need a good smack in the head with something called reality. No farmer would ever raise animals if they didn't benefit financially from having them in the first place.

Oh and anyone in the UK seen the tv show on BBC3 a while back called "Kill It, Cook It, Eat It".

The show was basically about live studio audience watching a film about animals growing up. BBC choose very young animals in most of the episodes. The audience then watch has the animal is brought into the studio and killed and cooked live in front by butchers and a cook. A lot of people were disgusted and couldn't eat it let alone watch the animal die.

I just watched the blood come out and not once did I feel sick. Kind of scared me at how I was feeling anything other then "cool"

 

[Amaris]

I think you're anthropomorphosing kids.

Seriously though, many kids grow up on farms where the cycle of rearing livestock is part of everyday life. Since these children too are under no illusion about where meat comes from, are they creepy too?

No, and I didn't say the children were creepy. For me, it was simply disquieting. JustKate gets me.

J.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I say way to go, kids. And if PETA starts harrasing them, I would hope each kids simply laughs, "Muwahahaha!!!".

 

[cultcross]

I say way to go, kids. And if PETA starts harrasing them, I would hope each kids simply laughs, "Muwahahaha!!!".

PETA don't really have teeth here, more of an American thing.