It is enormously tragic, that the defenseless, the harmless and the gentle sentient beings from whom we might have learned so much, who would have trusted us, and by whose acquaintance our lives could be so much enriched, are rewarded with imprisonment, torture and slaughter.
I am often reminded of, and haunted by, a post to the HappyCow blog on July 30, 2011 from Alisa Rutherford-Fortunati.
The piece, entitled “Bruno: A New Perspective on Happy Cows” can still be found in the blog archives.
The story tells how Bruno, a bull who lived on a small organic dairy farm in the Italian countryside, was slaughtered, his body butchered and sold to pay for the care of the other animals on the farm.
I was struck with great sadness by the author’s account of how Bruno, of whom she had grown quite fond, trustingly followed the people who had always “fed him and scratched his chin” as they led him to the butcher’s truck.
Bruno’s body was served as hamburgers the next night on the farm where he had lived. Upon seeing his spine which was “left as a treat for the dogs”. the author says “I could not connect this piece of flesh and bone to the animal I had loved”.
In closing, the author says, recalling her stay on the farm and her acquaintance with the animals,”I see their shining eyes eagerly waiting for me to deliver their morning milk, hoping for a bit of green hay or a scratch on the chin. I know these were animals capable of being happy and that they had this chance stolen from them”.
It is my constant dream and prayer that the day will dawn when everybody will regard the exploitation, torture, and slaughter of animals as utterly unimaginable.
3 Comments
Pete- old energy (1 comments)
July 11, 2012 at 7:29 amI am reminded of a story that I heard a long time ago, about a small farm in the far end of Northern California. All stories become legend, and with repetition they change a bit, and so if you have heard a different version, that is fine.
A wheat farmer had a small part of his farm used for animals, where he would use the products to help feed his family. In the barn he kept only few chickens, and sometimes a baby mammal that was large, say a cow, pig, or goat.
On one night, his chickens were outside, and the only occupiers of the barn were a baby cow and young pig. Fire broke out, and the two animals were on the verge of panic, but the pig, being a particularly bright breed, led her friend around the gate of their pen, and then followed the other fences to the barn door, and out to freedom.
That night, after the fire had been put out, the farmer found the pair, trembling a bit, but otherwise without damage. He was amazed that they had survived, and so he declared, “Any animals with that kind of intelligence and bravery, should not become food for people. These two pals will live out their lives on this farm”. The farmer meant what he said, and the two friends lived healthy years, without fear, on that little farm.
Chia (324 comments)
July 12, 2012 at 12:41 pmThanks for sharing this. I like your music.
glen smith (6 comments)
July 12, 2012 at 9:06 pmThank you