Emotional attachment

[Bigfoot]

I notice many post on here where people seem to have an emotional attachment to their cattle. Much like what I might have with a pet. I have never really felt an attachment to my cattle. I view them almost as I would tool. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with feeling that way, I just never knew anybody that felt that way

I've owned lots and lots of horses. Only a few did I get attached to. The rest I viewed as a tool as well. Makes me think I might be hard hearted. I take excellent care of my cattle and horses. I just don't seem to have the same feelings about them as many of our members do.

 

[highgrit]

My wife cries when we work up a load to bring to the sale. And if I have some help she won't even come over and help load.

 

[TexasBred]

I notice many post on here where people seem to have an emotional attachment to their cattle. Much like what I might have with a pet. I have never really felt an attachment to my cattle. I view them almost as I would tool. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with feeling that way, I just never knew anybody that felt that way

I've owned lots and lots of horses. Only a few did I get attached to. The rest I viewed as a tool as well. Makes me think I might be hard hearted. I take excellent care of my cattle and horses. I just don't seem to have the same feelings about them as many of our members do.

Find a happy medium in there somewhere and don't beat yourself up thinking your cold blooded. I don't see them as tools but I don't get especially attached to them either. I have been known to keep one just because of "potential" and sell one that most would have kept. Perhaps I see them more as partners.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I notice many post on here where people seem to have an emotional attachment to their cattle. Much like what I might have with a pet. I have never really felt an attachment to my cattle. I view them almost as I would tool. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with feeling that way, I just never knew anybody that felt that way

I've owned lots and lots of horses. Only a few did I get attached to. The rest I viewed as a tool as well. Makes me think I might be hard hearted. I take excellent care of my cattle and horses. I just don't seem to have the same feelings about them as many of our members do.

ive grown attached to one horse ive owned, and a few good moma cows in the past... not so much emotional but like you'd value and rely on a good employee..... i do look foward to every calf crop and getting better and better with each one......

 

[Ryder]

Anthropomorphism.

That's the problem with peta types. They can't distinguish between humans and lower animals.

 

[M5farm]

I've only had one that I've sold that was hard to let go of because she was bottle raised and gave me alot of calves and there was a special bond. I like my cows and enjoy being around them but wouldn't hesitate to sell any of them.

 

[Limomike]

Bigfoot.. I am kinda the same way about my cattle. I dont get too emotionally attached to them, like I do my dogs, or the horses I have owned. I dont consider them "tools".. but I do consider them $$$$ makers.... :nod:

 

[skyhightree1]

I must admit I have 2 cows that I bought as young heifers and will probably keep them till they die or the vet bills get too expensive everything else I have its like what my friends say when they come over " Walking Money " and they will get sold quick fast and in a hurry.

 

[dun]

There have been very few that I didn;t like getting rid of, most of them it doesn;t matter. Granny was a special case. After 16 years of her being lead cow and alwasy reliable it hurt when we had to put her down.

 

[LRTX1]

My wife thinks I'm cold when it comes to cattle. I view it as dollars made or lost. Pets I don't look at the dollars. Losing them is just part of life, not saying it doesn't hurt just don't get torn up over it. I am ok with it long as they had a good full life. Worst i ever had was a 2 year old bloodhound that I had to put to sleep. That one hurt a lot.

 

[pdfangus]

in my doterage losing a dog is like losing family.

I admit that I am very attached to my horses as well...

I like my cows and I hate to lose one but it does not turn me into a crying mess....I can sell em and load em out and say good bye girls....had to put one down last year. just tried to hit the mark and make it a plain kill. had to shoot one for the neighbor last summer as well.

my little mule got cancer a year or so ago. had his halter in my right hand and the 38 to his forehead in the left hand....put him in the hole and covered him up....then got teary eyed.

I can no longer shoot one of my dogs....just can not do it. I can hld em for the vet to give em a shot....that is what I did with Rose a few months ago...then cried all the way home.....

 

[Dave]

To me cattle are livestock to be sold or butchered. I don't get an attachmnet to cattle. A few horses are a small step above a cow but most are below cows in status. Horses are still livestock. I don't shed tears over livestock. Dogs are pets. There is an emotional attachment to them. Being single for most of my life and always having a dog who goes nearly everywhere with me an attachment is bound to occur. I have a deal with a friend. If one of us has a dog that needs to get put down the owner digs a grave. The other guy comes over and the owner leaves. The non-owner takes care of putting the dog down and buries it. That way the dog doesn't have to get hauled to the vet but the owner doesn't have to do the deed. It has worked out for the two of us.

 

[TN Cattle Man]

Like a majority of the responses... I too don't feel so much of an "Emotional" attachment to my cattle as I do with my dogs and horses. But I do admit, that I care for my cows with a lot of love and attention. No one likes to see a hurt or unhealthy animal and I'm sure most of us will do everything within our power and financial ability to help. A healthy happy cow will out perform a neglected animal every time!!

We do have some older momma cows that we have agreed we will keep until they pass... probably more out of respect then anything else. Those particular cows have been top producers and like a lot of you have stated... great "Tools" for us.

The wife and kids still don't like it when we load up the calves to take to the buyers, but they understand that that is how we make a living. And yes, I will admit that I to get that warm and fuzzy feeling everytime I see a new calf on the ground! :cboy:

Brian

 

[Deepsouth]

I like my cows but I would not consider myself emotionally attached to them. I've never gotten emotionally attached to horses either had a roping horse that I really liked but when I quit roping I sold him. I would say that I got attached to a dog once. A bluetic that I had for 14 years. A rattler bit him and he died. He's the only animal that I ever buried. I am sorry that I got so attached to him because his last two years was pretty rough on him and I should have put him down.

 

[Alan]

For me it's a clear cut line between to sides, first the easy side. Goodbye you POS, never a second thought and get the check, happy it's gone. Second is the ones that have been good, gave me a good calf every year or a special reason. Such as bought with my 2 yr old grand daughter, etc. those are tougher, I tend to think more, but they get loaded and I forget all about it when the check comes.

 

[cross_7]

I must be a big ole sissy
When I lose a dog it's like losing family and horses are not as bad but it pains me big time
I feel like i'm being immoral when I sell a calf not because they are going to be slaughtered but it really bothers me to think they may be mistreated before they get to the packer.
I don't like to see anything, human or animal mistreated
I'd like to see every animal I raise treated fair right till the last breath.

 

[M5farm]

I must be a big ole sissy
When I lose a dog it's like losing family and horses are not as bad but it pains me big time
I feel like i'm being immoral when I sell a calf not because they are going to be slaughtered but it really bothers me to think they may be mistreated before they get to the packer.
I don't like to see anything, human or animal mistreated
I'd like to see every animal I raise treated fair right till the last breath.

Not a sissy just doing your job caring for what you've been charged with. Ain't nobody on here that hasn't thought of or missed an animal that they raised. Just listen to Paul Harvey again that explains it all.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I am probably a little more attached than some. Of course i have no trouble selling steer calves or the many holstein calves i raise, or any thing else i buy to feed, they are just a business, but my cow herd is different. i have a couple that won't ever get a ride to town not many, but i still have three out of the first 5 cows i ever bought, they were heifers, i still remember they weighed 527lbs. but other than that when a cow gets to where she won't breed or has any other problem, and the most sense is to sell her thats what i have to do. For the most part they can all be replaced and when one you really like go's away you can go buy another one you will like just as good.

 

[SRBeef]

Mine get numbers, not names, except for one my granddaughter named, this is my best/favorite cow , like Dun's "granny". She will never leave here.

They are treated well as living creatures. I take good care of their needs, they provide a good calf. We have this deal.

When they come up open they are taken to the sale. I deal with a sale barn that takes especially good care in handling and holding cattle for sale.

Steers for processing are also just numbers, treated well and are taken to a processor where they are humanely handled. I don't want a lot of hormones to ruin the meat. They walk thru the door and wham with the bolt. If done right they don't feel pain and fulfill their place in the food structure.

If you want to get philosophical about it, I think all living organisms have their place and job to do in nature/God's creation.

I admit I am not a dog or cat person. I see them as taking up enormous resources. Maybe some of them earn it. Not my area.

jmho.

Jim

 

[Ryder]

I have a deal with a friend. If one of us has a dog that needs to get put down the owner digs a grave. The other guy comes over and the owner leaves. The non-owner takes care of putting the dog down and buries it. That way the dog doesn't have to get hauled to the vet but the owner doesn't have to do the deed. It has worked out for the two of us.

Dogs, some of them, are a whole 'nother deal. IMHO they should be handled at home--not hauled to vet. Realizing it is sometimes impossible now because of such dense urbanization.
Not criticizing the way you and your friend do it, but I would much rather pull the trigger myself than some stranger the dog doesn't know in a place that makes the dog uncomfortable and insecure.

Friend of mine had a bunch of kittens he had to get rid of and couldn't kill himself. I told him to put them in a big box in the yard and tell me when he would be gone--I would take care of it for him.

He wouldn't even do it that way. He took them some miles away and just put them out. He said that way at least they would have a chance.
I think that is wrong because you are just trying to give somebody else your problem. My way would have been better.