I took Xop the lamb to the slaughterhouse today. He looked fit, healthy and well cared-for.
I had expected a load of emotion at the final doing of it, but it was a calm, peaceful process thanks in part to the help of two neighbours who keep sheep, Carles and Jordi. We filled out the papers, put a wee numbered clip in his ear and popped him into the back of the Land Rover. The slaugherhouse is about 3km away - so no long journey in a lorry, and absolutely no distress (Jordi said that you can taste in the meat when an animal has been distressed). At the slaughterhouse we put him into a pen, next to other pens containing sheep. He had a drink. Sometime around now, about an hour later, he will go to the next neighbourhood (as the Catalans euphemism goes.)
This is the best kind of end that one could wish for, given that we're going to eat meat. And that, of course, is a whole other debate...
