Words cannot describe the moment when Lillie, a Brazoria County FFA Mom, said YES to Rowdy Girl Sanctuary rescuing our two newest residents, Chi Chi & Alana. The video below vividly describes in real time how the rescue unfolded. We are very grateful to our Brazoria County FFA mom that pardoned two of the turkeys that would’ve been “processed” or “dressed” to be consumed along with the other 20 turkeys that were raised for one reason only—to be slaughtered and eaten next Thursday, November the 24th in remembrance of our yearly holiday tradition of Thanksgiving.
In the words of Lillie, here is what she says about what FFA means to her:
“Future Farmers of America” teaches children where their food comes from and all about their farming roots – some kids don’t know corn is grown in a pasture they think it comes out of the can. They learn about agricultural marketing from showing animals to getting animals ready for market and then to selling them to judging them – to learning different crops, farming techniques, etc. The kids also learn how to weld, work on machinery and construct buildings for “livestock”.
I then asked Lillie why they chose turkeys instead of other animals to raise and she said that turkeys are a short-term project (4 months), and that they require a lot less land. 4 MONTHS OLD?!
I got to thinking about that and realized that the turkeys are processed and eaten at 4 months old—they are just babies. If I would have known that I was eating a 4 month old baby all those years I ate turkeys, I don’t think I could have ever done it.
Finally, I asked her if any of her kids ever got emotional before they were sent to be slaughtered. She hesitated for a minute and then said—“they are taught that when you show a market animal they know it is meant for market”.
That concept of “food animals” is deeply ingrained in our culture. If we ever really thought about these animals as anything but food we couldn’t eat them – it would be like eating our dogs and cats or any pet that we loved and had feelings for. The “food animals” are not to be considered with feelings and emotions – they are raised for one reason only – to be processed and eaten.
Meet our rescues, Jan and Dusty. Jan is Dusty’s momma. They lived up the road from us about 5 miles from here and their life is now forever changed. Jan is 12 years old and her son is 1-1/2 years old. They are the last of a herd that has been sold off. Jan’s story is truly heroic. She’s a warriorress! Carol and Charlie, started going over to feed their neighbor’s cows with their grandson and fell in love with Jan’s spirit. When the neighbor decided to sell all their cows, Carol and Charlie asked if they could buy Jan. And then they couldn’t separate her from her son Dusty, so bought him too. They couldn’t keep them on their property and so they reached out to Rowdy Girl. They had been trying to get these two to Rowdy Girl for months but Jan outsmarted everyone who tried to apprehend her to bring her to safety. After several failed attempts, dozens of cattle panels, cowboys, vets and broken spirits, they were finally successfully and safely loaded up. Now they are settling in at Rowdy Girl and we are all breathing a whole lot easier.
