Exposing My Emotional Scars For Your Amusement

My mom sent me some pictures in the mail the other day. A lot of them are really old and among them are two photos of the reasons I am a vegetarian. So, let us cast our minds back to late 1998 when I was 17 and the world was consumed by Y2K paranoia....


Moo1
Originally uploaded by Raksha38.

This is Moo.

He got his name because of apples. We had an apple tree right at the corner of our backyard and the fence around the pasture where the cows lived. We would go out during the afternoons and throw apples from the ground on the backyard side of the fence across to the cows or the horses, whoever happened to be around. Moo would get so excited by the prospect of apples that he would start mooing loudly and pacing back and forth by the fence. He would lick your hand whenever he could. He was also pretty shy. He would come up to us, because he knew us, but he would run from strangers.


Cow2
Originally uploaded by Raksha38.

This is Cow.

He got his name because it went well with "Moo." He was more outgoing than Moo. If you called his name, he would come running. He liked to play with the barn cats and he loved to have his ears and forehead rubbed.

When our landlord first brought them to us to take care of, I knew there was no way I could keep from getting attached. However, I figured they'd take them a half a mile down the highway to McGee's (a small-scale slaughter and taxidermy business) and I'd be sad, but I would be okay. At this time, I was working at Burger King (aka the 7th Circle of Hell). One day, I was getting ready to leave for work when I heard "MOOO! MOOOO!" and then a loud bang. Our landlord had decided to put an end to the cows in our own backyard. I freaked out. I ran for my car, but as I was backing up, I had to look back to make sure I didn't run into this tree in our driveway, and I looked back right when they shot the other one. The image of Moo on the ground and Cow being shot in the head is forever burned into my mind.

I cried all the way to work. I cried at work as I served Moo and Cow's relatives to annoying people in the form of Whoppers. All of the walls in my mind between my food and my animal friends had crumbled into dust. I haven't touched meat since that day.