Topic: could you kill your animal for the pot

[Squash64]

Nope, I'm a veggie, no need to eat meat in my book. Even when our laying chickens get too old to lay, they'll have a nice retirement to say thanks for all the eggs!

I agree with Biscombe.  I'm a veggie too so I wouldn't be keeping animals for food in the first place.

[landimad]

Happy to say that I am a meat eater and would kill for the plate.
As an ex slaughter man I had to get used to the blood and gore of the shop. This was before they started to kill with the humain bolt.

A pole axe and a good eye for it was all you needed to have, that and a stomach for the job too.

[Geoff H]

If you eat meat and care for animal welfare then the best thing you can do is rear your own. At least then the animals you eat have had a good life. When you buy some meat from the supermarket then you supporting some inhumane systems of animal rearing.

[Sholls]

Just to clarify, 'cos I've had PM's...  ::)

I don't eat meat, and started to phase meat out of my life from age six: by the time I started secondary school I'd eradicated all meat & the vast majority of animal related byproducts (gelatine, lard, rennet, isinglass, E-numbers etc) from my diet. I'd say I was a fully-fledged veggie by 13/14, that's around 20 years thus far...

I personally believe that meat is not a necessary dietary component, however if folk want to eat the stuff, fair enough... I'm not a militant veggie by any means, and if someone is educated as to the practices of the industry and still choses to consume meat I'm not going to argue... Personally, I'd rather 'meat eaters' understood how their food was produced and made informed choices than preach the 'meat is murder' viewpoint. Hence my original comment which began: "If you eat meat..."

Out of interest, has Mrs Simmo changed her mind?

[non-stick]

I'm not having a pop but it's very easy to say meat is not a necessary dietary component when you live somewhere like the UK but tell that to a bushman in the kalahari. Did anyone see that programme where they took people off to scotland and took them through catching food (rabbit, duck, deer, etc) and the killed it and cooked it. Very interesting.

I think people need to be aware where their meat comes from and be able to equate sanitised plastic wrapped bits in supermarket back to the animal it came from.

Anyway back to the original point - I've never done it, apart from fish, but would hope I could. It would be hypocritical of me to eat it if I couldn't. I think the biggest problem is people treat animals like litlle people and part of the family (fine to a point with pets) but not with stuff designated for the pot.

Also why are people happy to eat pork, beef, venison, etc but get upset with countries where they eat dog/horse? At least vegetarians are consistent as they eat none of it

[simmo116]

mrs simpson is still adamant that she wouldnt kill for the pot. there's one house divided then.

[Alexihen]

I had two piglets in January 2007 and loved watching their antics.  They were very friendly and loved having their tummies tickled.  My butcher took them to slaughter in October that year and then came and butchered them to my needs in his well equipped van in my garden.  We bagged up the produce and popped it into the freezer.  They had really happy lives and taste wonderful.

Last year I bought two female lambs who this year gave birth to two ram lambs which will be going down the same route next month.  Lamb is very expensive here in France and I can't wait to have a regular meat supply from my own freezer. 

I had never had large animals before, but have thoroughly enjoyed looking after them and know I shall enjoy eating them too.  I thought it might be difficult when it came to sending them off to the abbatoir, but it was fine and I am so glad I reared both the pigs and the lambs.  I named both pigs and both lambs, but in my head I knew they were for eating so it wasn't a problem.