Alright. This is my new favorite story ever. I know I say that like once a month but this time I really mean it. Reuters reports that a class of school children in England have been rearing this lamb since birth. They fed the creature by hand. Bonded with it. Named it Marcus for goodness sake. And that’s all good.
But then the lamb got to be something like six months old and the children made a decision that’s freaking lots of adults out. Come on. Guess what it is. That’s right. These awesome kids are voting to send the animal to slaughter. Why? So they can profit and buy a pig. Yeaaaaaahhhhhh!
Marcus the six-month-old lamb has now been culled, the head teacher of the primary school in Kent confirmed on Monday, after the school’s council — a 14-member group of children aged 6 to 11 — voted 13-1 to have him killed.
The decision has provoked fury among animal-loving celebrities, animal and human rights campaigners and the parents of some of the children, and led to threats against Lydd primary school and its teachers, according to a member of staff.
Around 250 children at the school take part in a program designed to teach them about rearing and breeding animals.
The educational farm was started this year, with Marcus being hand-fed by the children. The children also look after ducks, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs.
The intention had been to buy pigs with the money raised from slaughtering Marcus, but those plans have been put on hold following the furor created by the lamb’s culling. The school said the program may now have to be stopped.
“It’s all up in the air,” said a member of staff. “There’s been so much pressure on us as a result of all this.”
Despite that, the school said there had been overwhelming support among the children, the staff and most of the parents to have Marcus — a castrated male who could not have been used for breeding — sent to the slaughterhouse.
But opponents branded it heartless and cruel, with animal rights campaigners asking why Marcus could not have been used to teach the children about wool, and human rights campaigners worried about the emotional impact of Marcus’s death on the children.
A popular talkshow host offered to buy the lamb and give it sanctuary and Facebook groups sprung up to rally support to keep Marcus alive. But the children had the final say. The school defended the children’s decision, calling it educational.
“When we started the farm in spring 2009, the aim was to educate the children in all aspects of farming life and everything that implies,” the school said in a statement.
“The children have had a range of opportunities to discuss this issue, both in terms of the food cycle and the ethical aspect… It is important for everyone to move on from this issue, so the children can focus on their education.”
See. Here’s the thing. You know the one kid who voted against slaughtering the animal. That would’ve been me. Hey, I was a suburban kid raised on cartoons where animals talked and sang for goodness sake.
But now I grew up and think these kids are absolutely awesome. Sad that they seem far more adult than the wimpy adults who’ve watched too many Disney movies.
So in honor of the kids, here’s a little poem…Ahem.
Mary had a little lamb
Her father shot it dead
Now Mary brings the lamb to school
between two hunks of bread.
September 16, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Poor English class, the insanity of modern thought has found them at last.
It's always sad when kids respect the process of life more than adults do.
And that poem is awesome.
September 16, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Heh. That really is fantastic.
I've always been able to sympathize strongly with advocates of humane farming and hunting practices. However, it often seems to me that many "animal rights" advocates have an incredibly dismal understanding of basic biology.
September 16, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Great story – as is the poem.
So where are the big gov't types stepping in to explain to the kids that if they really wanted a pig, they'd just have to apply for a gov't grant or something?
September 16, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I don't understand all the furor in England about this. I thought Brits love their mutton…
September 16, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Good heavens… anyone would think that the school was requiring the children to slaughter the lamb themselves…
…though that could form a valuable lesson as part of the Biology curriculum.
As it is, will the kids be able to learn about how to cook Rack of Lamb ?
I think it's brilliant. I've taught kids who didn't know that all food was either vegetable or animal in origin!!
Mary had a little lamb,
You've heard this tale before…
But did you know she passed her plate,
and had a little more?
Or how about this one:
Mary had a little lamb,
she tied it to a pylon.
Ten thousand volts shot up its bum
And turned its wool to nylon!
September 16, 2009 at 6:04 pm
I'm surprised they're not protesting the pig as a direct insult to any local Muslims. Maybe that'll be next.
Mary had a little lamb,
and found it wasn't tender.
So to the kitchen Mary went
To puree it in the blender.
September 16, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Heh. Too awesome. Uh…
Mary had a little lamb,
but was hosting a soiree
so dashed with rum most nice
the lamb went quite flambee.
September 16, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Ouch! I'm loving all the poems!! But also feeling a tad sorry for the lamb:).
There's a favorite bumper sticker of mine, "There's plenty of room for all God's creatures… right next to the mashed potatoes!"
Sarah, from PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals).
September 16, 2009 at 6:44 pm
How ironic that the Google Ad next to this story (at least in my browser) headlines:
MEAT = Animal Cruelty
September 16, 2009 at 7:20 pm
I have a T-shirt that says that Sarah!
What a great lesson for kids!
September 16, 2009 at 7:39 pm
You should know that these poems sound much more appropriate if the traditional tune is shifted to a minor key. It has a wonderful funereal sound that goes really well with the words.
September 16, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Great story, even better poems. As for the promised pig, my family saw this billboard on a recent vacation in South Dakota:
"I scream, You scream, We all scream for Pork Loin!"
So true..
September 16, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Mmmm, I'm in the mood for a nice MLT: a mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They're so perky, I love that.
Love the fractured poems, too!
September 16, 2009 at 7:56 pm
I can't help but wonder if any of the Israelites (of the OT) were insane enough to protest sacrificing lambs on the same grounds as the PETA crazies. Can you imagine what might have happened to anyone publicly heckling the priest as he was about to draw the blade across the animal's throat? Screams of "Meat is murder!" probably wouldn't have been tolerated quite so much, but I don't know. I applaud the kids for not getting so attached to Marcus that they forgot the whole point of the project. When I was growing up, we raised goats and then, later, a cow and some chickens. Getting too attached to the cow was never an issue (she was a pill!), and the chickens . . . well, we kids got to kill, scald and pluck the things, and we sure couldn't remember–once they were cleaned inside and out and placed in freezer bags–which one was named Beaker or Spotty or whatever other names we bestowed on those birds.
LOVE the poem! Some of the other commenters came up with some gems, too. Thanks for posting this story.
September 16, 2009 at 8:14 pm
I just had to acknowledge the Princess Bride reference. Good one.
September 16, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Learned in middle school:
Mary had a little lamb,
little beef, little ham.
Mary had a little lamb,
and then she asked for more.
September 16, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I have a problem with this story and the sides that have lined up on either side.
I have a problem with Marcus being sent to slaughter, but not because of animal rights or any of the issues that have been mentioned.
Those that side with the 13 students seem to have done so for very generic reasons.
So here are my problems in summary:
1) They named the animal. I know several farmers and the one rule I know is that you don't name animals you intend to slaughter. Animals can provide benefits to humans in many ways. Two of these are companionship and food, but the two don't mix.
2) Apparently the decision to have him slaughtered was made recently. If the project was to raise a lamb for slaughter (vs. wool, just to be a pet, etc.) that should have been set out in advance.
3) Only 14 of the 250 students were involved in the decision. On a farm the farmer decides what happens – a democracy of one. Those animals he chooses to have as pets are pets. Those that are products are products. He isn't lulled into bonding with an animal and then have some other party decide that it will be food.
Just my opinion…
September 16, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Around here the 4H kids raise market lambs and then sell them to be slaughtered for food, all the time. They certainly have some attachment to them, and probably feel a pang when someone hands over good cash at the county fair and leads the lamb away, but they are farm kids and know better than to encourage sentimentality in themselves.
We raised pigs from the weaned piglet stage to the eating stage, killed them ourselves, hung them and butchered them ourselves. We named each year's piglets "Ham" and "Bacon" to get the point across. One of my kids, when the pig bit him, took gleeful delight in the thought that he was going to eat the pig in the end!
I'd say ignore the sentimental idiots, send the lamb to the slaughter and buy your pigs.
Susan Peterson
September 16, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I know several farmers and the one rule I know is that you don't name animals you intend to slaughter.
🙂 Hmm… that gibes with what John Wayne once said to a young boy fan, who asked:
Kid: "Mr. Wayne, what's your' horse's name?"
John Wayne: "Kid… you never name something that you might someday have to eat."
…but it's largely up to the individual tastes. My father, a very un-sentimental type, names cows quite freely (e.g. "Brownie", etc.)… and just as freely refers to them by that name afterward (e.g. "Pass me the Brownie-burgers, will you?").
September 17, 2009 at 1:45 am
LOL, Paladin…good for your dad…Brownie burgers, indeed!
One of my favorite Gary Larson coartoons is captioned…"That night with the shades drawn, Mary had a little lamb, with roasted potatoes and mint jelly".
Now I'm getting a hankering
for Lamb burgers(with mint jelly)!
🙂