I was working in the office this afternoon when Son #4 came
in and got the pistol.
“What do you have to put down”? I asked.
“A cow” he replied.
When he brought the pistol back I asked him if it was ever
hard for him to do that.
“Yeah, I had to put a calf down the other day, she was so
sick and she looked right at me” he said. He then added “I had to put down my
favorite cow just now.”
My first thought was how would you have a favorite cow out
of 1500 cows?
“What do you mean your favorite” I asked.
“Number Three” he said with a smile.
“Ah” I sighed. That was his number in football. He
remembered when number three was born and has followed her through the different
pens during the past several years.
“She’s always been especially nice”.
“What happened, why did she have to be put down”? I asked.
We don’t usually have to take care of full grown cows.
“She had gangrene in her leg. She had an internal injury and
no one knew it until her leg swelled up” he answered.
“So, she didn’t have a cut or an injury that someone would
have seen”?
“Nope. I went out to the pen and the herdsman pointed to her
and I thought, no, not number three. Even Roxanne said she liked her because
she was so gentle” he said as he closed the cupboard door.
That my friend is part of farming. It’s just as much a part
as plowing, planting, mowing, pulling calves, spreading the poop and everything
else. But it’s a part that doesn’t get mentioned much.
We spend a lot of time and money on keeping our animals
healthy. We have great vet support and call on them when needed. But, there
comes a time when all is done and the last thing to do is to put the animal
down.
As responsible keepers of God’s critters, it’s a necessary
part of the job. A hard part of the job. I am proud that my son steps up and
does the hard, uncomfortable tasks that need to be done.
