I killed a sheep.

Or rather, I watched a sheep die, get skinned and butchered, and documented the entire event. To be honest it was rather nauseating and I couldn’t actually watch the exact moment when the sheep’s throat got slit in the middle of the driveway. First he’s alive, and next thing I know there’s a puddle of blood and a slice through his neck. Anyway, aside from the overwhelming reminder that life is short (oh, the humanity) and death is just a butcher’s knife away, it was a very cool process to watch. Granted watching the squeezing out of the intestines (bile and poop spraying everywhere…) was a little more than I needed to see, and the post-slaughter preparations of the meat, feet, and head smelled up the kitchen (and my clothes) rather more than I would have liked, it was fascinating. I was wondering whether I wouldn’t be able to eat meat again after I watched the whole process but in the end not only did I eat its meat, I ate its vital organs. I’m not a fan of sheep liver, but some of the other parts weren’t bad. It reinforced my conclusions that if I am going to eat meat, I have to be able to stomach the fact that it gets killed. Anyone can pick an apple off a tree and eat it (except apparently for the fruitarians in Notting Hill…), but I’m thinking maybe you shouldn’t really eat meat if you can’t kill (or at least actively watch the death of) the animal you are going to eat at least once. I was talking to some of my friends later and they were talking about how that was so gross and they don’t want to know where their meat comes from or think about how it ends up on their plate but really, at least with this sheep, I know how it lived (more or less) and I know exactly how it died and what happened to it afterwards. Yeah, I couldn’t exactly eat pounds and pounds of it, but I had a greater appreciation for what I did eat. You can’t help but think about the slaughter when you’re eating it and it makes it that much more real, kind of. I don’t know, I can’t really explain it but basically if you ever get a chance to watch your own meat get slaughtered, do it. Yes it’s gross and sad and all that but it’s humbling at the same time. Very Omnivore’s Dilemma.