Elizabeth: I guess I will always have trouble seeing your point of view or at least taking it to the extreme you do. Which is okay...to each his own. I raise animals to make money. Sure I like them but if there wasn't a buck in it I would not own them. I believe we have a pretty good relationship...I take care of them,they take care of me. I don't love them enough that I would have them for pets. I have an old Australian Shepherd who has been an excellent cow dog. But she is going deaf and is getting pretty arthritic. Now once again here is a dog born to work. She has basically become a nuisance and just gets in the way of the young dog.
I keep her in the house at night because the cold bothers her and its not all that warm in the barn. I'll let her have her last summer and then take her for a walk in the woods. Is this the kind thing to do or a cruel thing? Would it be better to have her linger on for a few more months? I believe I have a responsibility to the animals I own. To care for them. And yes this requires putting them down when the time comes.
I am horrified by Rods' tale of the pig in the U.K.! I would put that pig down and to hell with the consequences! This is a good omen of what could happen here if we let the do-gooders and the nanny state run our lives! When did farmers give up the right to own their animals? Quite frankly why do I need a vet to euthenize an animal? A bullet is about the quickest way there is.
I sometimes get very frustrated with how veterinarians try to portray themselves as "super experts" when in fact the main
reason we need them is because they have access to drugs and can cut and sew(and some of them not very well!!). The old ones are usually pretty good and realize they don't know everything, but the young ones can be a pain.
Example: I had business in Calgary one day. I had this old fat hereford cow who had a tendency to get over on her side and blow up. My son,fresh home from university, phoned the vet. So out comes this kid fresh out of Saskatoon. He puts a hose down her and then checks for the calf. Announces the calf is dead and gives the cow a shot to abort the calf. Well when I got home my son tells me the sad story. I was pretty pissed to say the least! The next morning guess what? A little calf running around...about two weeks preemie!
So I went in and talked to this kid. I told him when ever a calf is under a lot of stress as will occur when an animal is bloated he lies very still and everything slows way down. And why on earth would he give a cow a shot when the calf was supposedly dead? She'll get rid of him with no problem. Well I tried to do this in a gentle manner because he was just a kid and hey they have to learn. He was pretty embarassed and subdued. And in the end he did turn out to be a pretty fair vet. So be kind to these kids...they don't need some old farmer ripping them up because they don't know anything!
I keep her in the house at night because the cold bothers her and its not all that warm in the barn. I'll let her have her last summer and then take her for a walk in the woods. Is this the kind thing to do or a cruel thing? Would it be better to have her linger on for a few more months? I believe I have a responsibility to the animals I own. To care for them. And yes this requires putting them down when the time comes.
I am horrified by Rods' tale of the pig in the U.K.! I would put that pig down and to hell with the consequences! This is a good omen of what could happen here if we let the do-gooders and the nanny state run our lives! When did farmers give up the right to own their animals? Quite frankly why do I need a vet to euthenize an animal? A bullet is about the quickest way there is.
I sometimes get very frustrated with how veterinarians try to portray themselves as "super experts" when in fact the main
reason we need them is because they have access to drugs and can cut and sew(and some of them not very well!!). The old ones are usually pretty good and realize they don't know everything, but the young ones can be a pain.
Example: I had business in Calgary one day. I had this old fat hereford cow who had a tendency to get over on her side and blow up. My son,fresh home from university, phoned the vet. So out comes this kid fresh out of Saskatoon. He puts a hose down her and then checks for the calf. Announces the calf is dead and gives the cow a shot to abort the calf. Well when I got home my son tells me the sad story. I was pretty pissed to say the least! The next morning guess what? A little calf running around...about two weeks preemie!
So I went in and talked to this kid. I told him when ever a calf is under a lot of stress as will occur when an animal is bloated he lies very still and everything slows way down. And why on earth would he give a cow a shot when the calf was supposedly dead? She'll get rid of him with no problem. Well I tried to do this in a gentle manner because he was just a kid and hey they have to learn. He was pretty embarassed and subdued. And in the end he did turn out to be a pretty fair vet. So be kind to these kids...they don't need some old farmer ripping them up because they don't know anything!
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