I rented a cottage on a farm. The little girl just had a new kitten. “So a cat only has one baby?” she asked her dad. “Yep - usually just one.” I gave him a sideways glanced.
After the girl was gone he said “Yeah - she doesn’t need to know they have a bunch. I put the rest in a gunny sack with a rock and toss them into the pond.” Although I didn’t say anything he could tell from my shocked look I guess (suburban college graduate). “It’s a farm. There’s already enough cats to keep the critters down, but it wouldn’t be long before we’d be overrun. It seems as humane as any other way.”
I get it I suppose, but it would seem just as easy and more humane to put a .22 into their head, or bonk them over the head with a sledge hammer.
Putting down anything is tough. You do what you can afford to support. It’s a tough call. I love my pets. After saying that, I work hard to feed and keep them safe. Sooner or later some of us will pass. They will be here or not. Same with me. No body is walking out of here. A true friend is a gift from God. I cherish them but I have no idea which of us lasts longer than the other. It’s above my pay grade.
Drowning kittens is cheap & low-tech, and unfortunately was necessary in rural farmland long ago. However, we do not live in rural farmland, and we have the technology & means to euthanize humanely, when unavoidable.