Boarding Woes...New Twist Not For the Faint of Heart

Yes, read the original post. To my ignore list I go…

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I think it’s normal to withhold food for a certain amount of hours before slaughter? I used to give lessons for a pair of sisters whos parents ran an organic farm with goats, lambs, chickens, etc. They were Jewish and a had a Rabbi that would come and be present (or participate or ?? IDK because I didn’t actually see it done) for it to be Kosher (sorry if I have these terms wrong or anything) but the animal would always be tied away from food and water for a certain amount of time. All of the those animals were treated very well during their life

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The OP does not say anything but the goat was tied in a shed. How does that automatically = inhumanely kept.

When I tie my horse in its stall is that inhumane?
What if someone comes along who does not know how long she has been there and finds it upsetting that she is pawing, does it automatically mean it is inhumane?

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It is normal to withhold food and water for some period of time prior to slaughter.

Otherwise, there is more mess and risk of contamination. I have processed chickens and rabbits here at home. I’ve never eaten goat, but they are smaller than deer, and we did that once. (Once only! That was a lot of work and there are processors nearby.)

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Thank you @tabula_rashah and @wsmoak for the information about withholding food and water.

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Last time I checked, horses were livestock.

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I’m still confused why a boarder is traipsing around the property in places they have no business being.

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Doesn’t take much, I guess. How dare someone question my view!

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I should forward this with the caveat that we process our own animals. Cattle, poultry, and yes, sometimes even goats. The processing is my least favorite part of animal husbandry and it is not for the faint of heart.

That being said I think it’s perfectly reasonable for a person to not want to see livestock being prepped for slaughter at the barn, the place that is supposed to be their happy place. I could see that certainly ruining the mood. From a biological/husbandry standpoint there is a lot wrong about this as well: who knows where that goat came from, what pathogens its introducing to a boarding barn?

OP, since BO was not aware this was happening, your situation sounds like the world’s strangest one-off thing. I wouldn’t move over it if you are happy with all else.

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She found the goat in a shed on the edge of the property - not in the barn, not where boarders should have been.

They aren’t openly conducting slaughter prep. She had to go looking to even find the goat.

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ahh ok. I still think that’s sad but I guess that’s why I stay away from meat :sweat_smile:

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Yes, I understand it is not in the barn with the boarded horses. However, there is still a risk of exposure here. Workers going to/from the shed, handling the goat and then handling the boarder’s horses, exposes them to all manner of pathogens and disease.

Meat goats are typically sold at auction and those can be anywhere from 10 to 200 animals in tight quarters, lots of introduction of disease and bacteria here. Poultry, cattle, goat, and sheep can all share fence-lines or holding cells. In the BO’s shoes I would be very angry with the workers for the unnecessary risk they posed my boarded horses/business by bringing a meat animal to a boarding facility.

I’m surprised the BO was not more reactionary to learn of this goat for that reason - but maybe they were and we just don’t know that side of the story.

Re: OP going into the shed… This really depends on the BO and the culture at the barn. In most boarding barns I’ve been at it’s understood you as a boarder have full access to all parts of the facility, so this really wouldn’t be crossing a boundary in my experience but every barn is different.

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if nothing else you are consistent in your self-added commentary - I didnt have to go “snooping” into an off limits area to find the goat.

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Thank you.

I hadnt considered the potential introduction of disease and bacteria my reaction was more emotional. However I do want to follow up with the BO and this is an important point. I dont know what happened between the BO and workers. I left. Fingers crossed that this was a 1 off situation and has been addressed.

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100%, sanitation, disease, attracting flies, that would be my main concern.

Once again, (much to the displeasure of the Greek side of my family), I almost exclusively eat fish, just small amounts of chicken. But the stereotype of the Greek guy with a goat on his island shack does have some basis in fact. My father is from a small, impoverished Greek island. People don’t eat goat much because they are more valuable for their cheese, but for special occasions they do roast a goat. On Easter, an entire lamb.

It’s a cultural thing, but it doesn’t mean the culture is cruel and barbaric. Just poor, dry, and, out of economic necessity, much closer to the realities of livestock slaughter.

I do find that knowing about what it takes to process livestock has reduced my meat consumption. But I know why people often need to eat what they can and wouldn’t judge them.

Just hope the barn staff is being paid adequately not to go hungry and not fired.

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In my experience, there were definitely areas that were off limits - around the BO’s house, in the office, etc. As a boarder you’re allowed in shared common areas - that’s it.

OP said in her post (bolding mine):

The “investigating” is snooping. She didn’t say “I heard a goat in the barn, and walked down the aisle and found him in the stall next to mine, tied with no food.” She didn’t say “I found the goat tied in my pasture’s run in shed.” This wasn’t an area she was invited to “investigate.”

The more these threads come out, the more I side with BOs. If I caught someone in a structure on my property they had no business being in, for any reason, they’d get 30 days notice. Outrageous.

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OP, ask your BO if they deer/turkey/pheasant hunt, too. Those animals come from other properties, and might be carrying disease as well.

:laughing:

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I am also concerned that OP feels it is OK to feed random animals when they have no idea of the situation.

Just with horses, there are many legitimate reasons a horse might not have hay in front of it. Overnight fast for blood glucose or Cushings tests. Recovering from tranquilizer for tooth floating. On strict rations for obesity. Quids and chokes so is living on soaked pellets. Etc. You do not go feeding everything that is making noise. Hey, even in our barn the aging cat is now on kidney care vet prescribed diet and we’ve had to put up notes everywhere telling folks to stop supplementing him with Fancy Feast etc.

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Firstly, don’t yuck someone’s yum.

Secondly, different cultures have different traditions. Christmas is right around the corner as well as New Years Eve. Why are you robbing a culture that you are not a part of, of their holiday feast. That is very selfish.

Thirdly, you can move barns.

Of course no one is making the OP watch the goat being processed. She thought she was a member of Scooby Doo’s crime busting gang and went in search for a goat. I highly doubt the family that was going to harvest said goat would be doing it at X in the indoor.

I hope you did not screw up the timing of the slaughter due to feeding and watering the goat that was not yours.

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“There are not any major diseases that goats can pass to horses, or vice versa, and even their primary pathological gastrointestinal parasites are different, making this interspecies upkeep, at least from a medical standpoint, fairly simple.”

https://www.horseillustrated.com/horse-experts-horse-vet-advice-horses-and-goats#:~:text=There%20are%20not%20any%20major,a%20medical%20standpoint%2C%20fairly%20simple.

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