Posted on 09/14/2009 12:14:20 PM PDT by ShadowAce
LONDON (Reuters) - A group of schoolchildren who reared a lamb from birth and named it Marcus has overridden objections by parents and rights activists and voted to send the animal to slaughter.
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...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Awww, that’s nasty LOL.
A friend of mine is currently raising three beef cattle - their name are “Big Mac”, “Quarter Pounder”, and “Double Cheese”.
LQ
13 out of 14 voted to have him killed. What emotional impact is there for the children? The one child, perhaps.
Mary had a little lamb
It’s fleece was white as snow
But when she slit his little throat
My, how the blood did flow.
*shrug* yeah, well, we shoulda named the dog...
well, what was the dog’s name?
No problem! --- He'd named it Barbecue ---
Hey, it is England. Maybe that kid wanted to wait until the lamb became mutton.
one post too late LOL!
Don't you mean, "the pigskin"?
Fair enough. As for Marcus- I appreciate the lesson that the kids learned, and I don't disagree with doing it, but I couldn't do it, for just that reason. If it has a name- it's getting perilously close to 'pet' status.
I'm not a vegetarian or an Animal Rights loon by any means. But I avoid lamb and I avoid duck, just because I like them too much.
We couldn’t bear to kill Tom for dinner, so we ate the dog.
How was it?
The milk cow was named Rosey, and the Angus were named Hamburger, T-bone, etc. The pigs were named Pork Chop, Bacon, etc.
Us kids knew exactly what they were for and what we were eating.
};^P>
Ba-dum, tish
Fragrant.
I wonder if Liberals ever give a single second of thought time to what sort of future they are creating, when they teach their kids these "free love" values.
Wow. Will they kids benefit from this, you know lamb stew or something. Seems only fair.
Wow. Will they kids benefit from this, you know lamb stew or something. Seems only fair.
The article indicated they were going to sell the meat and buy pigs. Sounds like a captal idea to me, it being Britian-stan and all.
I thought it was I kid. Ewe not.
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