Would you be willing to slaughter an animal?

[Necronic]

My mother was raised on a farm. Shit most of my family was raised on a farm at one point or another, except my generation. One thing my mother has told me before was that if you weren't willing to butcher/slaughter the animal yourself, you shouldn't be eating it. You can't divorce your eating of a bacon cheeseburger from the act of taking a knife to the pigs throat and bleeding it dry, or an air hammer to a cows skull. My grandfather today was telling me how his mother would kill chickens by swinging them around by their necks until their heads came off. As she got too old she would have to set their heads on the ground and step on them, then pull the bodies until the head popped off. Of course all of this was while they were alive.

I am pro meat, but I think I probably couldn't man up to slaughtering an animal. Maybe its the blood, or the taking of life, but its really made me start thinking I should become a vegetarian. If I can't kill the animal myself I shouldn't be eating it right?

I'm curious what yalls thoughts are on this

 

[Ravenpoe]

My mother was raised on a farm. Shit most of my family was raised on a farm at one point or another, except my generation. One thing my mother has told me before was that if you weren't willing to butcher/slaughter the animal yourself, you shouldn't be eating it. You can't divorce your eating of a bacon cheeseburger from the act of taking a knife to the pigs throat and bleeding it dry, or an air hammer to a cows skull. My grandfather today was telling me how his mother would kill chickens by swinging them around by their necks until their heads came off. As she got too old she would have to set their heads on the ground and step on them, then pull the bodies until the head popped off. Of course all of this was while they were alive.

I am pro meat, but I think I probably couldn't man up to slaughtering an animal. Maybe its the blood, or the taking of life, but its really made me start thinking I should become a vegetarian. If I can't kill the animal myself I shouldn't be eating it right?

I'm curious what yalls thoughts are on this

If you can't manufacture every piece of silicone in your computer, and generate the electricity to run it yourself, then you shouldn't be posting on the internet.

That's what I think, at least.

 

[Pojodan]

Not having to kill the animals I eat is part of the world I live in I definitely take for granted, so much so that I'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble if all that went away.

If my life depended on me butchering an animal to eat and survive? Well, yeah, I'd do it. I'd just need a bucket next to me while I did it.

 

[Raemon777]

I think this is a pretty good rule of thumb. I'm a vegetarian. I'm not opposed to hunting, or farming ethically, but factory farming is not only horrifyingly inhumane, but terrible for ourselves as well - it's not sustainable and damages the environment which will in turn be harmful to us.

I don't exactly want to encourage people to stomp on the heads of living animals, but I think we've divorced ourselves too much from not just our food but pretty much everything. While such a rule wouldn't exactly be practical, I think it might be interesting to have a high school class that takes kids to see various kinds production factories to familiarize them with what goes into the products they buy, food included.

 

[Necronic]

My mother was raised on a farm. poop most of my family was raised on a farm at one point or another, except my generation. One thing my mother has told me before was that if you weren't willing to butcher/slaughter the animal yourself, you shouldn't be eating it. You can't divorce your eating of a bacon cheeseburger from the act of taking a knife to the pigs throat and bleeding it dry, or an air hammer to a cows skull. My grandfather today was telling me how his mother would kill chickens by swinging them around by their necks until their heads came off. As she got too old she would have to set their heads on the ground and step on them, then pull the bodies until the head popped off. Of course all of this was while they were alive.

I am pro meat, but I think I probably couldn't man up to slaughtering an animal. Maybe its the blood, or the taking of life, but its really made me start thinking I should become a vegetarian. If I can't kill the animal myself I shouldn't be eating it right?

I'm curious what yalls thoughts are on this

If you can't manufacture every piece of silicone in your computer, and generate the electricity to run it yourself, then you shouldn't be posting on the internet.

That's what I think, at least.

That's a complete red herring. Its not the work aspect of killing an animal that makes it an important act for people to do, its accepting the moral consequences, and seeing what the action really means.

Its not like if I were to go into a computer manufacturers clean room I would start vomiting everywhere and say "I'm never touching a keyboard again!"

although that would be fucking hilarious....

Edit: also, this comment/question has nothing to do with factory farming. It only has to do with whether you could handle the act of slaughter yourself. Part of what is so interesting about it is how few people in our generation have ever done it. Go back one generation and pretty much everyone has a story.

 

[Pojodan]

My mother was raised on a farm. poop most of my family was raised on a farm at one point or another, except my generation. One thing my mother has told me before was that if you weren't willing to butcher/slaughter the animal yourself, you shouldn't be eating it. You can't divorce your eating of a bacon cheeseburger from the act of taking a knife to the pigs throat and bleeding it dry, or an air hammer to a cows skull. My grandfather today was telling me how his mother would kill chickens by swinging them around by their necks until their heads came off. As she got too old she would have to set their heads on the ground and step on them, then pull the bodies until the head popped off. Of course all of this was while they were alive.

I am pro meat, but I think I probably couldn't man up to slaughtering an animal. Maybe its the blood, or the taking of life, but its really made me start thinking I should become a vegetarian. If I can't kill the animal myself I shouldn't be eating it right?

I'm curious what yalls thoughts are on this

If you can't manufacture every piece of silicone in your computer, and generate the electricity to run it yourself, then you shouldn't be posting on the internet.

That's what I think, at least.

That's a complete red herring. Its not the work aspect of killing an animal that makes it an important act for people to do, its accepting the moral consequences, and seeing what the action really means.

Its not like if I were to go into a computer manufacturers clean room I would start vomiting everywhere and say "I'm never touching a keyboard again!"

although that would be smurfing hilarious....

You should make a YouTube short about a guy that visits a computer manufacturing factory and reacts to it as a normal person would react to a slaughter house.

 

[Necronic]

That would be fucking hilarious. Too bad I don't still work in a lab that did clean room/circuitry research, I could film that in an afternoon.

 

[Denbrought]

I've never eaten any animal I've killed, but I wouldn't have any qualms about slaughtering anything I eat. They exist to sustain me, and I don't puke when I grab the potatoes in the backyard.

Its not like if I were to go into a computer manufacturers clean room I would start vomiting everywhere and say "I'm never touching a keyboard again!"

although that would be fucking hilarious....

All that poor silicium... Oh the memories, how they haunt me T_T

 

[HoboNinja]

I think if I had to I could, I would rather just go to the super market and buy it but if I had to kill it to support myself or my family I would.

My Dad used to go hunting all the time and I never went but I have talked to him about going sometime and I am going to take a hunter safety class and go deer hunting sometime with him. But he said if I go I have to field dress the deer which makes me a little queasy thinking about it but I would do it, it's part of the responsibility of it... if I can take it's life I need to do all the work and prepare it to eat.

 

[PatrThom]

Eventually.

--Patrick

 

[Shegokigo]

Grew up in farm country. I've seen everything slaughtered first hand.

Cows, pigs, goats, chickens. Also living in a Hispanic community, most of the time the dead animals were bled/kept near the place we were going to eat. Also, as someone who's always been very active in cooking/future in cooking, I learned alot first hand by preparing the freshly killed meats.

 

[Tinwhistler]

My mother was raised on a farm. Shit most of my family was raised on a farm at one point or another, except my generation. One thing my mother has told me before was that if you weren't willing to butcher/slaughter the animal yourself, you shouldn't be eating it. You can't divorce your eating of a bacon cheeseburger from the act of taking a knife to the pigs throat and bleeding it dry, or an air hammer to a cows skull. My grandfather today was telling me how his mother would kill chickens by swinging them around by their necks until their heads came off. As she got too old she would have to set their heads on the ground and step on them, then pull the bodies until the head popped off. Of course all of this was while they were alive.

I am pro meat, but I think I probably couldn't man up to slaughtering an animal. Maybe its the blood, or the taking of life, but its really made me start thinking I should become a vegetarian. If I can't kill the animal myself I shouldn't be eating it right?

I'm curious what yalls thoughts are on this

Two days ago, I took a catfish into my garage, laid it out on newspaper, pulled its skin off with pliers, ripped its guts out, and then cut fillets from it's side. Then I wrapped the remains up and tossed it in the trash. The head was still gasping for air when I disposed of it.

But then again, I spent plenty of time on a farm.

 

[Vagabond]

I could kill the animals, sure.

Cutting them up and preparing them for human consumption would be a whole different story.

Not that it wouldn't get done, though. Very few things will get between me and my love of bacon.

 

[bhamv3]

I've never slaughtered or butchered animals before, but I've seen it done on chickens, pigs, geese and a variety of fish. If I had to do it, I don't think I'd be squeamish about it, though naturally my lack of experience probably means I'd cut off my own hand by accident.

 

[North_Ranger]

I think I could handle the physical act of killing. It's the gutting and the skinning I would probably need help with...

 

[Tress]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRSLQu-d6ZQ:3nn9vz2d][/youtube:3nn9vz2d]

I've never killed my food. I don't plan to anytime. If I had to, I would. It's natural. Of course I also think animal pain and suffering should be minimized as much as possible.

 

[Cajungal]

I've allowed fish to suffocate in a cooler on a boat, and I've dunked crawfish into boiling water... but they're not all cute and sad-looking.

I'd probably have to be absolutely starving to kill something larger.

 

[@Li3n]

My grandfather today was telling me how his mother would kill chickens by swinging them around by their necks until their heads came off. As she got too old she would have to set their heads on the ground and step on them, then pull the bodies until the head popped off. Of course all of this was while they were alive.

Where axes not invented yet in her time?!

 

[strawman]

I've allowed fish to suffocate in a cooler on a boat... but they're not all cute and sad-looking.

Those poor sea kittens!

I love sea kittens! With extra tarter sauce....

-Adam

 

[doomdragon6]

Man, I feel bad for killing a bug. Definitely couldn't kill an animal.

If I HAD to to survive, that's completely different. But otherwise, no way.

 

[CrimsonSoul]

I've killed/gutted rabbits and deer that's about it so I think I could do it

 

[Gurpel]

I'm with Vagabond on this. I could definitely kill the thing, taking the guts out is different.

Maybe if I was wearing like, someone elses clothes.

and elbow length gloves.

...

and a hazmat suit.

 

[Shegokigo]

I'm with Vagabond on this. I could definitely kill the thing, taking the guts out is different.

But that's the fun part! :humph:

 

[Nile]

I would. Can't say I'd enjoy it that much, but three million years of evolution back me up. :tongue:

 

[Bowielee]

I could kill and dress an animal if I had to. I learned all that stuff when I was younger, but as long as I can get meat from the store, I don't see any reason to.

Animals are animals. I don't have a great deal of worry about killing them, or even using them for research.

With the exception of my dog, or any other housepet, but that's because I have an emotional attachment to him.

 

[Wahad]

I'm pretty sure I could. Preparing an animal - taking skin off, guts out, all that jazz - would require someone to show me how, though, as I don't know yet.

 

[Math242]

It would have to be a matter of survival for me to kill an animal.

I'm pretty sure if the situation gets so bad i have to kill it myself, i will have absolutely 0 problem with skinning it or whatever is needed.

 

[JCM]

Ive killed and eaten the following; cows (in a group, for the Ramadhan sembilih ritual), chickens, fish, a snake and a rabbit.

 

[Silver Jelly]

I don't eat the animals I kill, but I sure do eat meat! Just not bug meat...

 

[@Li3n]

Animals are animals. I don't have a great deal of worry about killing them, or even using them for research.

Humans are animals too... but for some reason y'all seem to worry about them... oh well, small animals will have to do for now...

 

[LittleSin]

I've only ever mercy killed animals...mainly house pets.

I can say I would kill to survive but until I'm put in that situation it's only lip service.

 

[@Li3n]

I can say I would kill to survive but until I'm put in that situation it's only lip service.

No it's not... when it gets down to it every one here would do it... the problem would be in actually catching the animal...

 

[Kovac]

I have shot an animal (Of the possum and rabbit variety), caught and gutted fish that I have caught on a line but I have never slaughtered a red blooded animal.
I don't think I would be terribly keen on it either, it seems like a lot of mess and work.

And I don't really have the opportunity to do so anyway as I don't know anyone who owns a farm.

And the shooting of the animals was more pest control than harvesting them for anything useful.

 

[@Li3n]

What colour is rabbit blood?!

 

[Kovac]

blue

Just like smurf blood.