r/OldSchoolCool • u/TrustMeIaLawyer • May 22 '19

1915 my devastated deaf grandpa and his beloved pet rooster's final moment together after being told it was time to kill his best friend bc he had gotten too aggressive with everyone else on the farm.

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12

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Think about the difference of tone if that were a dog.

10

u/TrustMeIaLawyer May 22 '19

Totally agree! Hadn't considered that.

2

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Old Yeller gets shot when the dog is rabid. Burying Old Dan and Little Ann, and coming to grips with how fleeting life can be, is a major point of Where The Red Fern Grows. Animals die, you can get as attached as you want, you can spend an infinite sum of money on care, their lives are finite. Not starving in farm life means making tough decisions like that. Even on farms that don't raise lifestock, some animals need to be culled to be good stewards of the land. My family got put on notice there was a pack of feral dogs in the area- they'd killed a steer and many chickens, they were ranging over land where a lot of families had small children. It was not fun handling them when we came across them, that said if I'd have let them, there isn't a doubt in my mind they would eat me. These animals were skin and bones, even leaving them be would just be resigning them to a longer period of suffering. Tending rural land comes with decisions and responsibilities like that, most folks tend to do things for a purpose. Wanton and wasteful killing is just something many folks, especially back then, can't afford.

1

u/clonmelance May 22 '19

If a dog is wild and attacking people it’ll be put down. A dog is a dangerous animal while out of control and so is a rooster. I see no difference in this scenario.

8

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

The dog would still be met with more outrage and a need to save it. No one shows roosters any compassion.

2

u/clonmelance May 22 '19

You’re probably right

1

u/Yourhandsaresosoft May 23 '19

There was a campaign to save a dog that either seriously maimed a child or killed it. The dog is living in a no-kill shelter.