Working at a sheep farm as a vegan
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Sven
18 September 2017 | Australië, Borden
Man.. I don't know what to think, so much stuff is going on. My mind is working extra hours and everything feels so strange. I know I came to Australia to get out of my perfect bubble where everybody cares (about the earth humans animals), I choose myself to get into farming and work at a sheep farm and I will continue to be willing to work at different animal farms and do all kind of jobs.
So yesterday I ate sheep, it was a long time since I ate meat. But I wanted to experience the whole cycle of meat consumption. From mulesing the lambs (cutting their tails, when they make awful sounds because the first part isn't sterilised) to walking with them to new green fields. One of the sheeps had a virus in her head and needed to be killed, I watched and strangely didn't feel to much with it when her throat got cut. The day after I butchered the whole carcass and got some meat for Alan and myself. I noticed how I can put my emotions/feelings/thoughts aside and do the job, don't know if that's a good thing. I think it's pretty scary actually
By the way the sheep chop tasted really well. Sometimes I'm still craving for meat, people don't understand why I choose not to eat it. It's just that my morals and the life of other being are way more important to me than the taste in my mouth.
The farmer and his wife are both incredible human beings. The are loving and caring for the animals and try to rescue as many as possible. The farmer has a strong interest in the second world war and relates to it many times. One time I was standing in the shed and saw how the sheep got into it. They are afraid of people and the dogs who are walking behind them. Stumbling over each other they try to reach safety, where they can't go any further they gather together. No clue what's going to happen to them. We check them in small groups of 8 in total there are 700 of them. If they have a lot of shit stuck to their bottom we need to capture them. The farmer says it doesn't hurt the animal, but I can see their heart beat and breath going crazy. Catching them isn't easy, I push my knee on the inside of the hip and push it against another sheep or the fence, then I grab the chin with my hand and twist the head to the side. With my other hand I grab the lower back, step backwards and at the same moment I push the sheep down and roll her over. Then I grab her front legs and pull her on het bottum out of the cage to the farmer who is going to shave the shit of and puts her into another cage. To be honest most of the sheep are quite calm from the moment they are out of the cage.. I just don't know if that is actually what they feel at that moment as well.. These 700 will get exported to the middle east for meat consumption. The farmer tells me about the high standards for transport in Australia. Everything is checked with surveillance and the countries where the sheep are going to need to approve to these qualities as well. He tells us that one bad farmer/person can fuck it up for everybody who is working hard and has a heart for animals. Still if I hear that the animals are loaded on the trucks 4 decks high and shit and pie on the ones below.. I don't know about how animal friendly that is.
Most of the time the animals are walking free in huge spaces with grass. They have more then enough food and space to walk around. So definitely not everything is bad, it just isn't necessary (for me).
When I was standing there looking at the sheep coming into the shed, just after I heard a story about world war II, I made a scary comparison. Jews walking in line as a number, selected in a moment to be capable to work or not. In other words to die or not (yet). What is the difference?? That we are humans and they are animals. why do you think we are better than animals, do we have more reason to exist? That we own these animals... it used to be normal to have slaves. People are still discriminating other cultures, colors of skin. So what about different species? What about discrimination and making slaves of them??
Some people say it's nature, but is it? We are free to think and choose to kill and eat animals. We don't have to survive on it! I'm in a perfect healthy state, probably more healthy than most people. And because we have always done it like that is that a reason to always continue doing like this
We where always in war according to history, so is that a reason to continue doing this? Continue killing people based on.. their beliefs or the oil which is stored deeply underneath their feet!!
Well these are just a few of my thoughts from last days. It keeps me busy, looking at myself and my surroundings.
One more thing, we just watched a documentary about killer whales. And some one said why would they keep them in captivity? They suppose to be in the wild!!! Well isn't that with all animals?
I'm really greatful for these opportunities to look into my beliefs, challenge myself and experience my veganism in a different way. I want to look into more animal farms and work there for a couple of weeks as well. It's very interesting because the farmers have their opinions as well. And if they are all as this one I will learn and understand a lot more about the whole industry around it
Love Sven
So yesterday I ate sheep, it was a long time since I ate meat. But I wanted to experience the whole cycle of meat consumption. From mulesing the lambs (cutting their tails, when they make awful sounds because the first part isn't sterilised) to walking with them to new green fields. One of the sheeps had a virus in her head and needed to be killed, I watched and strangely didn't feel to much with it when her throat got cut. The day after I butchered the whole carcass and got some meat for Alan and myself. I noticed how I can put my emotions/feelings/thoughts aside and do the job, don't know if that's a good thing. I think it's pretty scary actually
By the way the sheep chop tasted really well. Sometimes I'm still craving for meat, people don't understand why I choose not to eat it. It's just that my morals and the life of other being are way more important to me than the taste in my mouth.
The farmer and his wife are both incredible human beings. The are loving and caring for the animals and try to rescue as many as possible. The farmer has a strong interest in the second world war and relates to it many times. One time I was standing in the shed and saw how the sheep got into it. They are afraid of people and the dogs who are walking behind them. Stumbling over each other they try to reach safety, where they can't go any further they gather together. No clue what's going to happen to them. We check them in small groups of 8 in total there are 700 of them. If they have a lot of shit stuck to their bottom we need to capture them. The farmer says it doesn't hurt the animal, but I can see their heart beat and breath going crazy. Catching them isn't easy, I push my knee on the inside of the hip and push it against another sheep or the fence, then I grab the chin with my hand and twist the head to the side. With my other hand I grab the lower back, step backwards and at the same moment I push the sheep down and roll her over. Then I grab her front legs and pull her on het bottum out of the cage to the farmer who is going to shave the shit of and puts her into another cage. To be honest most of the sheep are quite calm from the moment they are out of the cage.. I just don't know if that is actually what they feel at that moment as well.. These 700 will get exported to the middle east for meat consumption. The farmer tells me about the high standards for transport in Australia. Everything is checked with surveillance and the countries where the sheep are going to need to approve to these qualities as well. He tells us that one bad farmer/person can fuck it up for everybody who is working hard and has a heart for animals. Still if I hear that the animals are loaded on the trucks 4 decks high and shit and pie on the ones below.. I don't know about how animal friendly that is.
Most of the time the animals are walking free in huge spaces with grass. They have more then enough food and space to walk around. So definitely not everything is bad, it just isn't necessary (for me).
When I was standing there looking at the sheep coming into the shed, just after I heard a story about world war II, I made a scary comparison. Jews walking in line as a number, selected in a moment to be capable to work or not. In other words to die or not (yet). What is the difference?? That we are humans and they are animals. why do you think we are better than animals, do we have more reason to exist? That we own these animals... it used to be normal to have slaves. People are still discriminating other cultures, colors of skin. So what about different species? What about discrimination and making slaves of them??
Some people say it's nature, but is it? We are free to think and choose to kill and eat animals. We don't have to survive on it! I'm in a perfect healthy state, probably more healthy than most people. And because we have always done it like that is that a reason to always continue doing like this
We where always in war according to history, so is that a reason to continue doing this? Continue killing people based on.. their beliefs or the oil which is stored deeply underneath their feet!!
Well these are just a few of my thoughts from last days. It keeps me busy, looking at myself and my surroundings.
One more thing, we just watched a documentary about killer whales. And some one said why would they keep them in captivity? They suppose to be in the wild!!! Well isn't that with all animals?
I'm really greatful for these opportunities to look into my beliefs, challenge myself and experience my veganism in a different way. I want to look into more animal farms and work there for a couple of weeks as well. It's very interesting because the farmers have their opinions as well. And if they are all as this one I will learn and understand a lot more about the whole industry around it
Love Sven
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19 September 2017 - 11:49
Maarten:
Hee Sven! Goed om wat van je te horen/lezen! Dat is andere kost dan de yoga! Gisteren at ik kip van de vegetarische slager! Gemaakt van soja met de bite en structuur en de smaak van kip! Het kan! All the best! Maarten
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