'Slaughter Is Worse Than Murder' - poem
'Slaughter is worse than murder'
I loved him oh so much, but the rules are to be tough,
He loved me right back, so i let his lead hang slack,
His colour was odd, but still i loved his bod,
He was my little man, i was his biggest fan,
Together we competed, together we were defeated,
We won a sash together, we couldn't have done better,
He was a great walker, not much of a talker,
Months of feeding and grazing, training and complaining,
All put to waste, without much haste,
Some showed no emotion at the time of commotion,
It was time for the truck, which was just my luck,
I led him to the yard, my god it was so hard,
I took off his halter, i know my love wont falter,
I told him i loved him, i kissed and i hugged him,
I let him go, hoping he wasn't to know where he was to go,
I cried and i screamed, i yelled till i steamed,
I looked at the truck, perhaps i shouldve ducked,
For looking through the cracks, over cattles backs,
Was my little guy, staring as the sun set in the sky,
I stared back at him, then ran to meet him,
I couldn't believe he'd known it was me,
I couldn't believe how far he could see,
But i know for sure he was looking at me,
I patted him through the cracks, but couldn't reach his back,
We waited for the trucks to leave, don't know what i hoped to achieve,
I escaped Caitlin's headlock, attempted a one man roadblock,
I screamed at the driver he'd made a mistake, he had a steer he could not take,
He laughed and drove round me, took with him my baby,
My little man was gone, he left me on my own,
My boy is the lucky one for he need not live on...
By Lauren King, October 2005
This poem, i wrote late last year.. when my steer was slaughtered after a show, he was a beef animal and bred only for that purpose. The slaughter of a steer is a huge thing to me, it is one of the most painful things to put so much effort into the breaking in of an animal, you love them, they love you, when you have a special relationship with the animal, one like none of the people around you have, one where you understand each other and trust each other with anything like alot of you do with horses and other animals.. just to have an awesome fun show, where you continue to become more and more like best friends, to then be the responsible for putting this animal you have loved so much onto the truck, knowing exactly where he is going, why he is going there, what will happen when he gets there, what he will be thinking on the way, when he gets there and when hes gone up to cow heaven, knowing someone will be eating them and thinking nothing of it, knowing you were the one that put him on that over crowded truck, these animals know, they are not stupid, not at all.. and knowing this, feeling the pain of putting them on that truck knowing all thses things, is simply murderous.. everyones all sycho about horse slaughter but nobody cares about beef slaughter, its just a stupid cow, but then the thought of a horse turns stomachs, what is the difference? I have not eaten beef or any beef product since 31st of October 2004 i think thats about 22-23mnths so far.. that was the day my 1st steer was slaughtered, my 1st ever steer an animal i will remember forever.. i have lost many steers since than... and soon in a few months ill lose yet another... and hes one of the best ive had yet, this will be another really hard one. Lauren
