The meat buyer and the lamb

***You may respond to this post, but I will likely not follow up.  I will, however, read everything posted in this thread.***

To the man who abandoned the injured lamb:

She died.

Now, I know what it is you do as a meat buyer.  What’s one animal lost in the long run?  One baby trampled in a trailer?  One with a broken leg shot in the head and thrown in a pile?  It’s time, that’s what it is.  Time and inconvenience.  This, and people like you are what’s wrong with the world.  Whether the animal is for meat or otherwise, it deserves respect.  If nothing else, those around you deserve the respect not to be witness to animal abuse and the discarding of a life.  To pick up an animal and drop it repeatedly to re-solidify in your own mind that the 28th animal in a lot of 27 was a rip off is atrocious and I wish punching you in the mouth wouldn’t have resulted in cops or I would have.  You would have done her more justice by putting her head under your tires as you drove away.

You wouldn’t take the dollar I offered you for an animal you paid nothing for, but you abandoned her on the auction floor when everything that could walk was loaded in your truck and I wasn’t around.  I took her home, you know.  I was told “Grab her” as I was leaving, and I did.  When asked if I had authority to take her I simply responded: “I was told I could pick her up.”  Despite a long, shifty look, I was released with the lamb over my shoulder, weak but willing to struggle.

When I brought her home, I offered her grass and water to no avail.  She bleeted at me a couple times and Lola laid quietly at her side as I petted her face.  She died, you know.  There on my floor, laying on a sleeping bag, built up to cradle her little face so I could see her eyes.  I gave her the chance, but her body couldn’t fight anymore, and I doubt being dropped and discarded repeatedly did her any good at all.

So to the man who abandoned the injured lamb on the auction house floor, cast to the wind as a useless piece of meat that costed you nothing: She died, loved and in my arms, skinned and then fed to the dogs, because unlike you, her life was not a waste, and she deserved the respect of dying in peace and having her life mean something.  You are what’s wrong with the world and, unlike her, you continue to perpetuate the disrespect in this world that starts with our food and continues through the rest of our society.

What a terrible day that must have been for you. It's always the saddest of days to see witness and see the worst in humanity. I think there is a special place in hell for cold hearted people like this person you describe.

You are clearly on the other end of the spectrum, your attempt to save the little gaffer is the light that those of us here see in the world. Thank you for not giving up and trying to help this poor discarded creature. They save special spots in heaven for those with big hearts like yours.

.

Sick.

It used to be that a farmer had what I believe is called "" Husbandry "" skill's which as I understand it is as a father is to his kids....... so is he / she towards his livestock .That skill has been lost ! and the dollar now rules far to many large farms , not all by any means , but still far to many have lost this skill and understanding that livestock needs to be treated the same way as what we would want to be treated regardless if it is meant for the table . This person should be reported by the auction mart if they don't want to have a bad reputation as well as the animal activist's  all over them ...............it's a sad day when this happens , and that no one intervened is even more appalling............I hear and feel what you are saying

It says a lot who we are, our treatment of other living things. Hopefully karma exists.

In defense of the auction house (ah), there was only one animal there out of over 2500 head that I thought, maybe, had some congestion. All of the animals, save this little one, were in great health. We go there quite often to watch prices, learn buyers, see what's there, and they roll their eyes a bit when I'm there because I'll grab them and point stuff out. There were no lambing or kidding animals, and none that looked like they were within days of doing so.

When I loaded this little lamb into the truck, I was told she had gotten trampled during sorting. Sheep jump, I've seen them jump on top of each other, and she got the bad end of things. The girl who told me to come take her thought she was just weak, and I did as well. When I skinned her, I wanted to find out what was wrong: broken ribs? Dislocated shoulder? Rupture? I nicked the skin wall that holds all the guts in place and, without intentionally being too graphic, the intestine somewhat wormed its way out. When I turned her to keep skinning, it continued on out, followed by a large amount of blood.

I am still dealing with the guilt of not putting her down the moment we got home, but felt like if she had just been worn out and I had, that I would have treated her life as useless as that man. I know she suffered, but does someone dying want to do so alone and dirty, or with someone petting their face and telling them they're beautiful and loved and that it'll be alright, no matter what. In pain or not, I'd want the latter.

I agree, animals lambing, kidding and calving in an auction setting is unacceptable, and at the spring sale, the auction house said the same thing to me. But also like they said, once they're there, the most they can do is move them as they see them, because they know damn well the sellers won't come back for them. Maybe it's best these animals are sold, rather than live with an owner so willing to do that to them. I am not against auctions, buying at them or selling, simply because I don't think it's much less stressful to be carted to any other type of sale, but that's my opinion and I respect those who avoid auctions like the plague because: I get it. Seeing things like this, a couple years ago that dog wrapped in chicken wire, last year the lambs too young to be ripped from their mother and not offered milk, it hurts and it -sucks-. But I feel like seeing those, perhaps, there is an opportunity for me to make their lives better and I have tried. I'll bid up to a certain amount before I stop, at a point where I think someone who pays that amount is about as caring as me, but where I don't over-reward the seller for their cruelty. At the past few sales, the Humane society has been there, checking on the health of animals. Unfortunately, they didn't stay for the load up.

I do hope there's a special place for people like this, a lesson that will be taught to them like a swift kick to the testes. And I hope, somewhere along the line, my granola, heal the world, circle of life mentality will rub off on someone and save a life. Maybe when I'm 122.5 years old and pass away surrounded by 4 generations of family, all of those animals that I tried to help and have raised will be waiting for me, so I can do it all again.

Thank you for doing what you could for that lamb, Sweetened. Compassion and kindness towards all the creatures of this earth is what keeps us human. The utter disregard and disrespect of that buyer towards that lamb labels him as something less than human in my mind.