Everyone tries to press that chickens are pets, but

[Chicabee19]

My sister is a vet, and she doesn't find it difficult to put pets down - she finds it very hard to watch an animal suffer, and gets mad when an owner insists on keeping a pet alive despite its suffering.

 

[Mahonri]

They are pets that we eat and that produce food that we eat.

That simple.

My receptionist read the book "Skinny Bi***" (rymes w/ witch) anyway, after she got done she told me she would never eat meat again. (she still eats it all of the time)

I then told her, I love animals too. They're delicious!!!

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
Carri that is horrible...sorry for the loss of your dog. I am blessed with a great vet I guess. when I took my 13 yr old wolf in, I knew it was bladder cancer. He lloked at the urinalysis the vet in NC did and said...if he were mine, I would take him home, spend another week with him and come back and let us PTS. I simply asked if he was in pain and the vet said "yes a little" and I said "We do it now then". My bill was less than $200.00 which included his cremation.

I cannot stand vets who insist on wasting time and our money before they will do the right thing. It is NOT their choice it is the pet owner's choice.

 

[ncCHICKS]

I agree with the $ version. I consider the 4 I have as pets and my chick has been to the vet (prod. red) when she was injured. $100 just to touch her since she was an "exotic". So if that happened to someone with 100 chickens!

Also, with just losing my 14 year old dog, I understand. We were contiplating putting him down, his heartworms were acting up (had them when we adopted him) I am thankful that he went in his sleep, me and mom went to the dog house together, with out her I wouldn't be able to! We had him cremated and a personalized urn is on the way. It will have a forest scene on it with his name below it.

he deserves it

 

[silkiechicken]

I eat my chickens. Some of them are most certainly not pets. Those are livestock. You can have 100 "pet" chickens and still be looked at as "normal", but if you had 100 "pet dogs" would it be the same? I think it depends on who you talk to for their definition of pet and if their chickens are pets or livestock.

I personally have no problem killing a pet if they are suffering or if they have lost pet status and are to be sent to freezer camp like roosters. And some people don't take even house hold cats and dogs to the vet and call them pets.

To cull your own pet chicken is more socially acceptable than culling your ailing dog or cat too since people often see chicken as dinner. All a matter of culture and definition.

 

[Bex]

My neighbor is very much a "country" man. He enjoys living off the things he can do/provide for his family and off of the land.. We were talking once and he told me that when it comes to an animal he feels that when they are suffering it is his responsibility to do it. He either 1.) Brought them into this world (letting an animal breed) or 2.) brought it to his home and made the animal his life long responsibility.. So he does it.. Me.. I am too much of a whimp and I have to pay the vet to do it.

People think I am crazy for taking my pet rats to the vet.. "It's just a rat.. You can get another for $10 at the petstore.." Wrong.. It is not just a Rat, it is my pet with a personality.

Chickens.. I would probably attempt to cure at home first, but if I felt that I couldn't, yes, I'd probably take it to the vet, but I am a sucker, lol.

 

[iajewel]

I do think it has allot to do with how you grew up, and where you live. When my boys were little and brought freinds over from school, even the behavior in the town kids vs the country kids was very noticable.
I grew up being able to have pets on the farm. My kids weren't that lucky as animals for a single mom are income, period.
If an anaimal is sick it depends on thier over all value if I treat them, or put them down. Ex. If a spare roo is sick.. he is gone. If a hen that is a good layer is sick, I will treat her with in limits. Those limits being her over all end value.
My cattle have a retirement plan. when I have an old cow, that has given me a good calf every year for 10+yrs, sometimes 15-20, even 25yrs.. Yes.. she can die here, she has paid for her hay, she has paid for any medical she needs, and I owe that back to her, for caring for me for so long. On the other hand if a young heifer is sick, I will look at those 20+yrs of calves she will give me and how replacable is she. If a steer or bull get sick.. they are history.
Its all in how you do your books, and what you personally can sleep with at night. Can you go with out, just to not put something down?
I, and my boys grew up knowing why and how the bills get paid. We knew the better care we gave our stock, the more money we would make. We also knew when to call it quites. No matter how much we loved that animal.
I have now a steer I dearly love. Im trying very hard to sell him to a good home. If I can't.. he goes in the freezer. Its a bottom line thing on a farm. People who live in the city, or towns and have other jobs don't have to think about or deal with.

I think its important for people who do live in town, and do have pets that others may look at as livestock, take into consideration that we do have diffrent lives. Its not that we are eatting our pets. It is that we are surviving, in the same way they shop at the store, we shop in our back yards.

J

 

[Balfour Girl]

Carri, I'm so sorry about your dog. I had my cat put to sleep almost 2 years ago and I still get choked up when I think about my giving the order to the vet. I felt like I was playing God (even though she was in kidney failure, thanks to Chinese made cat food... I now boycott everything Chinese). After she died we decided no more pets. Then one of the neighbour's chickens was attacked by a coyote, so we nursed her back to health (now I can't give her back because I love her... so we stole one more chicken and she has a friend and I have two pet chickens... Chicken and Punkin!). I can't even kill a fly, so there's no fear that I'll kill my pets for food, but I have no problems going to the grocery store for dead, plucked and gutted chicken!

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
Your sister is a good vet, IMO.
This is the way I look at it, and this is how I was raised. It's not that I don't care about my animals or that I won't pay for vet bills (within reason), it's just that I refuse to be selfish and drag the life of my dog along because I can't bare to give him up.
Growing up, when the dog got old and started to suffer, you put the dog down and got another dog. Of course I care about my dog/cat/horse/rat/whatever, but it's just that. A dog/cat/horse/rat/whatever. Even if I had all the money in the world, I wouldn't drag an animal on like that. It's so selfish. And it's selfish of the vets to insist on tests, xrays, and such when you, as a owner of the pet, have decided that putting it down is the best thing to do.

 

[CarriBrown]

PS. Thanks for the condolences. I feel ok, though, because he was 14 years old and had a good life. He is no longer suffering.