The plumes of heavy black smoke coil, almost as if revulsion itself drives the path.  Hundreds, thousands of cow, sheep, pig, and goat carcasses feed the flame, the naturally flammable lanolin and oils speeding the process.  And the workers stand back, disgusted, and hope that the spread of foot and mouth disease has been halted.
 

Every day we seem to hear of another country that has discovered cases of the virus, and we know that nowhere, not even North America, is immune.  We are told of the financial devastation, for the farmers and the nations, and occasionally a story comes out about the great sadness that the farmers feel.  Some have even taken their own lives.

But still the executioners don their protective garb, pick up their firearms, wade into the flocks and the herds, and start shooting the terrified mothers and babies.  We don’t hear about what the animals are going through.  The press doesn’t discuss the mothers trying frantically to protect their young as they watch each other being shot, one by one.  No one tells of the sheer horror that they experience as, once again, humankind decides the course of evolution.

Many of the farms involved are not factory farms, and the people who care for the animals do have compassion for them, and in some cases, affection.  This is an intense trauma for the human counterparts as well.  So why are the authorities not spending a little more money to make certain that these animals die within the realm of what we think of as humane?  It would seem that, not only would the creatures be much better off, but perhaps the farmers would have fewer nightmares.

Would it not be possible to buy a cheap tranquilizer, and add it to the last meal?  In normal circumstances proper dosage would make it impossible.  But in this case, it wouldn’t matter if it stopped their hearts.  Then, they could use handguns and rifles, loaded with sub-sonic ammunition, with silencers attached to the muzzles.  The animals would simply drop, there would be no deathly frightening noise, and the shooters would be able to make more certain that the shot was a clean kill.  Granted, this would take more effort, with extra monetary cost, but perhaps it would help soften the fear factor, and stop the reports of animals still moving as they pile them on the pyre.

If indeed animals do have souls, this is a holocaust of gigantic proportions.  Even if they do not, the suffering within this tragedy by animals, human and non alike, is profound.  The world community needs to take the responsibility to make certain that no more agony is experienced than is necessary.

It is very possible that foot and mouth disease will be coming to a farm near each of us.  Perhaps it will give us an opportunity to reflect on the consequences we have brought to the animals that we have put into our care.  If we take the time and energy to really think it through, then maybe we can fulfill our obligation to right the many wrongs that we humans have inflicted upon creation.