Post by hoperefuge on Mar 26, 2012 15:00:42 GMT -5
....for me & the steer.
Things just didn't go as planned. Chucky had an appointment at the butcher shop. They're a small outfit....very nice, plain Mennonite folks who we consider friends. I know their set-up for unloading & I know Chucky....and I should have had him haltered & tied in the trailer.
With our trailer, a slant-load horse/stock combo, we have to open the door to back up to the unloading ramp/chute. With the other boys we've previously taken, they were calm enough that I just jumped in between them & the open door & they stayed put. Not so with Chuck....he decided it was time to get out of Dodge & there was no way I could stop him. He high-tailed it off across the semi-fenced fields & we tried, but couldn't manage to get him turned back toward an enclosure. So the guys had to grab a couple guns & the tractor & take off after him. They couldn't get close enough for a clean shot without him taking off again & he finally found the last hole in the fence where he could head for the next County.
Afterwards, the guy apologized for not getting a clean shot, but he knew at that point it was his last chance, or Chuck would be gone. He got a shot in that slowed him down, & then they were both able to get a little closer. A couple more shots and the bugger finally went down. It was then that I burst out sobbing...I felt so awful that he had to die that way. And felt like it was my fault for not tying him in the trailer. Even though he's not used to human contact, at home in the trailer I would have been able to get a halter on him...I have before.
Oh, well it's done & over now. I just needed to spill it. Thanks for "listening" & understanding!
Kim
Things just didn't go as planned. Chucky had an appointment at the butcher shop. They're a small outfit....very nice, plain Mennonite folks who we consider friends. I know their set-up for unloading & I know Chucky....and I should have had him haltered & tied in the trailer.
With our trailer, a slant-load horse/stock combo, we have to open the door to back up to the unloading ramp/chute. With the other boys we've previously taken, they were calm enough that I just jumped in between them & the open door & they stayed put. Not so with Chuck....he decided it was time to get out of Dodge & there was no way I could stop him. He high-tailed it off across the semi-fenced fields & we tried, but couldn't manage to get him turned back toward an enclosure. So the guys had to grab a couple guns & the tractor & take off after him. They couldn't get close enough for a clean shot without him taking off again & he finally found the last hole in the fence where he could head for the next County.
Afterwards, the guy apologized for not getting a clean shot, but he knew at that point it was his last chance, or Chuck would be gone. He got a shot in that slowed him down, & then they were both able to get a little closer. A couple more shots and the bugger finally went down. It was then that I burst out sobbing...I felt so awful that he had to die that way. And felt like it was my fault for not tying him in the trailer. Even though he's not used to human contact, at home in the trailer I would have been able to get a halter on him...I have before.
Oh, well it's done & over now. I just needed to spill it. Thanks for "listening" & understanding!
Kim