Another Mess of a Butchering

Well...so far, here is the summary of the butcherings:

1 goat - dull knife delayed final result
2 pigs - one went great and the other is the reason for this post...
1 bull - bullets were too small and off their mark (no fault of the arms bearer), concrete post wasn't supposed to pull out of the ground, bull wasn't supposed to head down the mountain

I was using the four-wheeler and trailer to move the concrete as I had posted earlier. I got done and seconds later I was told that they needed to have me use the four-wheeler and trailer to get a pig who didn't want to go anywhere. I didn't think the trailer idea would go so well, so I suggested that I pull it with the four-wheeler.

I went down there and they had a fairly long rope tied around its neck with 4-5 guys trying to get the thing to move - to walk up the hill and to it's final resting place (sorta). They were doing everything they could to get it to move and they were NOT being successful - - several people said this was the most stubborn pig they have ever seen. They were pulling the tail, ear, and whatever they could get their hands on. The pig was squealing like mad - like I have never heard a pig squeal before (with my limited experience this doesn't say a whole lot, but...anyway). Before we started pulling it with the four-wheeler, they had already cut a groove in the back of its neck with the rope.

I convinced them to tie the rope to the four-wheeler so we could pull the pig (it took a LOT of convincing). We tied it off and started to pull with the four-wheeler. I needed four-wheel drive. The pig didn't take a single step THE WHOLE WAY.

We pulled it the rest of the way up the hill until it didn't stand on its legs any more. I realized that it wasn't getting air so I backed off to let it breathe. We waited for him to catch his breath and to be able to stand up on his own.


This went on 4-5 more times. By the time we got to the grassy area where I could pull him and he had no traction, **(here is some gross stuff)** all four feet were bleeding and one was spurting blood. Here is the trail the pig left with his feet after I pulled it to its final resting place:


We got the pig to where he needed to be and he was so tired he could barely lift up his head. When Mr. Kyrk got the gun out, he didn't care and it was an easy shot - Mr. Kyrk did it with one bullet. I am not so sure the trailer would have helped things much, but I could be wrong.

The record of butchering seems to be Animals 3, Humans 1. In the end, they have all become food for people who need it (the hospital) so, I guess it's really more like Animals 0, Humans 4. But it doesn't feel that way. I didn't stay this time to watch all the blood and guts.

I am noticing how I am getting used to all this killing of animals - it doesn't hit me like it used to. I used to feel sort of PETA-like (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). I was not as bad as putting animals on the same level of humans which is not Biblical because humans are made in the image of God, but now I see the animal as food which is all most of them are here in Haiti. I still do not like to see it done cruelly - we need to care for God's creation and do it without torture. We have been doing all we can to not be cruel and to kill them quickly.