How to gently persuade someone to kill and eat pets?

[cassie]

I have lived on a farm nearly all of my life. As far as pets are concerned, you don't eat 'em. Food is food and pets are pets. You don't eat pets and you don't name food. Eating pets causes a lot of trauma all around. And in the case of children the trauma may last a lifetime.

 

[sourland]

Just what Cassie said. Pets get names and they have lifetime rights to the farm. Treat them good, but don't name or personalize them or it is impossible to eat them. Having said that, I could never raise and kill pigs. Even the unnamed ones have too much personality for me. I'll get my pork from the grocery store.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

We have the 'stay of execution' rule here. Any one at any time can request that a certain chicken not be killed and eaten. That chicken is then their pet and their responsibility for the rest of the chicken's natural life. The only exception to the rule is roosters who re-offend. They are put on parole instead of a stay and if they attack a human the 2nd time, parole is revoked and death penalty invoked. I have a roo on parole right now. He attacked me 2X in one day and hubby still begged for his life because he's just too gorgeous to kill. So, hubby now gets to make sure roo never attacks me again or it's chicken & dumplings for Sunday supper.

I'm the one who does the processing because the others are too soft hearted. I'm not hard hearted at all, but my plan was eggs, then eat. So I butcher them up, and put them in an empty plastic bag that Tyson parts came in back when. They know that I haven't bought commercial chicken in a while, I know they know but still..... I just don't make a big deal out of it and only take a couple birds at the time, so it's not like I have 50 today and zero tomorrow. We have a foreign exchange student who didn't know she was coming to a working farm when she asked to be with a family who had horses, but she's pretty well gotten with the program now too. I haven't seen her miss any meals whether it's been beef, chicken or pork, so I'm thinkin' she's ok with it.

 

[sred98]

Quote:

Just explain it like you did to us...that's what I did!

Shelly

 

[wyoDreamer]

The decision to eat a beloved chicken or not will be an entirely individual decision. I grew up hunting and fishing, my cousins had ducks, rabbits and meat chickens. I helped with the butchering and cleaning of it all. I picked blueberries for the pie on Sunday. It was a fact of life. I had friends with 4H animals, a couple of them made dad sell the steer and buy a different one for eats. I understand how hard it can be to kill an animal you raised and loved.

I don't have chickens now, but I am sure I would not have any issue with butchering a chicken for supper.

Then there is my younger sister. She never hunted and seldom went fishing. She lives on 40 acres. Won't even think about raising her own chickens, or beef. Doesn't want any venison if offered. If it don't come on a styrofoam tray, wrapped tight in plastic she ain't interested.

We came from the same upbringing, but totally different outlook on life.

 

[FireTigeris]

Quote:
That's what I meant, well put.

 

[Beekissed]

I understand how hard it can be to kill an animal you raised and loved.

Sometimes it is extremely hard....I had to make that decision today and it made me a little ill. But it was the right thing to do. I've processed chickens that I had hatched out right here on my place and it never bothered me too much, but today we processed our meat wether lamb that I helped to birth.

I couldn't be there.....just couldn't. My boys came over and it was done in a matter of minutes, little Fats is now in a pan in the fridge and his hide hangs on the clothesline.

I had to come to the truth about it all....though he was sweet and loving, depended on me for affection and food, looked like a stuffed animal and never gave me a moment's trouble~he was raised for one purpose. Not as a pet, I can't afford to have that many pets.

It was the right thing to do....so he wouldn't have to suffer stressful and fearful transport away from his mother, be hustled into a pen with other strange lambs, run around a ring until someone bought him and then transported once again to the slaughter house. If anyone was going to eat Fats, we were going to eat Fats. No one else could ever appreciate the love that went into raising that particular animal like we could and no one would eat that meat with as much appreciation as we will.

My lamb, my work, my final product on my little farmette....my life to take and honor with a calm and quick death at the only home he has ever known.​

 

[magicpigeon]

Quote:
Sometimes it is extremely hard....I had to make that decision today and it made me a little ill. But it was the right thing to do. I've processed chickens that I had hatched out right here on my place and it never bothered me too much, but today we processed our meat wether lamb that I helped to birth.

I couldn't be there.....just couldn't. My boys came over and it was done in a matter of minutes, little Fats is now in a pan in the fridge and his hide hangs on the clothesline.

I had to come to the truth about it all....though he was sweet and loving, depended on me for affection and food, looked like a stuffed animal and never gave me a moment's trouble~he was raised for one purpose. Not as a pet, I can't afford to have that many pets.

It was the right thing to do....so he wouldn't have to suffer stressful and fearful transport away from his mother, be hustled into a pen with other strange lambs, run around a ring until someone bought him and then transported once again to the slaughter house. If anyone was going to eat Fats, we were going to eat Fats. No one else could ever appreciate the love that went into raising that particular animal like we could and no one would eat that meat with as much appreciation as we will.

My lamb, my work, my final product on my little farmette....my life to take and honor with a calm and quick death at the only home he has ever known.

Seconded. I have absolutely no problem killing animals such as dogs, cats, rats etc. In fact, I've done my fair share of killing.

But i know I could never kill a pigeon. Call me weird, but I don't think I could kill a chicken either. I do have a pet dog and don't mind cats, if you were going to ask about that...I just have a soft spot for birds

 

[SilverPhoenix]

I come in here not to argue, but to offer another perspective. Please don't argue back with me, I probably won't come back in this thread anyway and I'm just offering my own thoughts.

We are not forced to view the animals as food objects. Even on a budget, one can easily support feeding a number of chickens. I have just a simple part-time job, and more than sixty chickens plus some other assorted fowl. I do not keep my birds for eggs (though I do eat the eggs they bestow me with because I have no reason not to), but even though I don't keep them for that purpose and many of my birds are up to twelve years old, I get more eggs than myself or my family can eat. We give them to neighbors for free, or if they want to give us a few dollars for feed that's fine. I add a few young chickens every year, and keep my birds until they pass naturally. That way, my flock usually stays a more-or-less even number. Most lay for quite a long time, even if their productivity may not be high. Among them all, and with the young ones too, they produce plenty of eggs.

I know not everyone wants to convert themselves away from using their birds for utility, and I know not everyone has the liberty to keep as many birds as I do, but the point I'm trying to make is, it's completely up to you how you choose to view your hens. One does not have to view them as only a commodity that one can kill at a whim. I value the lives of my chickens as I value the lives of my dogs and cats. Feeling sad or upset about killing hens that you like and are attached to shows compassion and a different kind of strength. A person who kills is not stronger, better, more well-adjusted, more realistic, etc. than someone who chooses not to kill.

Enjoy your birds in the way that is right for YOU, and not anyone else.

 

[Red&Yellow]

SilverPhoenix, that was wonderfully put.