Please be warned

Someone from a different culture where butchering is more common knowledge will see things in a different light. If your family is hungry, you will do what you know how to do to feed them.

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

Wow, this thread has a couple of posts that indicates racism against my Latino friends. Last Friday, I sold my sire ram to a Mexican family that I had met only once. I didn’t want to see Baaabe go so they loaded him at my homestead while I wasn’t there. They phoned back and invited me to their barbeque cook out. Wonderful caldo de borrego and delicious barbacoa served with pasta, sausa and Bud. Con cariña, me llaman Don Pablito.

The only way to know if a buck is for sale is to ask. In most places south of the border “no” doesn’t really mean “no” it means not just yet, or not quite enough money. Not to worry, the negotiation doesn’t finish with the loser stealing the negotiated item. Also, dairy goat farms must do something with the seasonal bucklings or the coming out of service does. There is a natural market of peoples who didn’t grow up on beef steak or pork chops. Bad people are bad people regardless of skin tone.

Susanne, thanks for posting a picture. A tragedy. I hope that they catch the scoundrel!

Paul

Rose there is no way I would steal in order to feed my family. I would rather tell everyone to eat grass or leaves like they do in other countrys. Whats wrong is wrong stealing is never right. And if I felt despreate I would ask not just steal it. And hopefully they would be sweet and caring enough to say we could. I know if someone came to me needing food and asked me for Buck no matter how much I loved him I would give him to help that family out. But if they stole it from me I would be very upset.

Someone stole 3 of my geese last summer and I think beat one to death a few nights before the theft. When I found the dead goose I started penning the geese and ducks together at night for protection. That just made it possible for them to grab the geese.

I spiked my driveway each night for a long time after that.

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"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

What a terrible thing. Our property is an acre wide and seven long, plus with three dogs in the house (altho the "good" watchdog has gone deaf this spring) and three very good watch dogs outside, I feel fairly safe with our property, but we rent two acres on the otherside of our driveway and someone could easily come in that way and steal goats. I'm thinking about letting that lease run out this year, taking down the fence and keeping them on my own land where they are a bit more safe.

I was worried about the mexican workers at the large dairy farm down the road, but now that I do the bookwork there the last year, I'm not concerned as they all know me and I get along with them (except one woman, but that's a different story, and she's makes enough money to buy whatever she wants!).

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ADGA Nigerian Dwarf and MDGA Mini Mancha goats for show, home use and pets www.dbarjacres.webs.com Located in North central Wisconsin

In all my years in agriculture, both as a child and an adult, I never saw any problem come from Latinos. And I agree about the negotiation. In Mexico City I would go past a shop, see something I wanted in the window and go and ask about it ... only to be told it was not for sale. Really, amigo? Why is it in the window? Then you start talking about the item and learn "for sale" means for sale, mas o menos.

For goat meat, Mexicans are going to be your primary customers ... so it's not so unusual that they would show interest in your goats. Plus there's a thriving goat culture in Mexico, which means they're more knowledgable about the animals as well. Same as if West Africans came around your cattle. It's something they're familiar with.

None of that adds up to thievery though. There's no reason to suspect one person or another. Wasn't there an issue back in the '90s with some cult groups stealing cattle just for the blood and the hearts and butchering them there in the field? Could be anybody doing this for any thing, but I doubt it'll get better with time.

Look at traditional housing in the Third World. The livestock corrals are usually attached to the house, or right next to the house. They aren't just doing that for the companionship. They know they need to keep their animals close or lose them to predators of all shapes and sizes.

And my ancestry comes from a place where livestock theft was once considered a national sport ... sheep stealing in Scotland.

Okay, after a couple PMs calling me a racist. I guess I have to explain myself more. I'm sorry, I didn't mean I had a problem with hispanics. I didn't realize that I came across that way.

THe way I can put it is in my area, people don't really eat goat meat. It's considered gross (yes, we do eat it tho) unlike from what I understand about southern states where some (not all!) people eat about anything and goats are "normal" meat. Not many people would "lower" themselves to goat meat, much less steal one for it.

So, when the workers from Mexico arrive, where goat meat is very common, I got a thought in the back of my mind after hearing so many bad things about them - you HAVE to keep in mind that in North central Wisconsin, until a couple years ago, everyone was a white person, any other colored person was a "wow, did you see that!?". So, the things people say about different cultures are what you think of when you don't know them.

Out of all the Hispanic workers I've met, I only dislike one, and that's a woman issue (well-off, very successful, single, good looking man owns the farm and even tho I'm married, I'm invading on her turf, if you get my drift, for crying out loud, I'm just friends with the man!). I'm friends with one young Mexican man, had quite a few beers with him the last year and have invited him and some of his friends into our home for a party one nite.

So, please take your racist comments and give them to someone else.

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ADGA Nigerian Dwarf and MDGA Mini Mancha goats for show, home use and pets www.dbarjacres.webs.com Located in North central Wisconsin

I am very sorry about the little goat and even more sad that some people thought it necessary to pm you and call you a racist. I did not get that feeling at all from your post. I think you were just trying to let some of us know more about the differant cultures and also to be careful with your livestock. I am not originally from this area and there is a big hispanic and asian culture here. I had a pig for sale one day and a couple came out and bought the pig but, the man didn't want to leave because his wife was with him and wanted my "PET" potbelly pig and my two geese also... I kept telling them NO that they were my pets " not for sale"... not sure what they were saying back and forth to each other but, the wife was getting mad and the man finally told me that she wanted him to explain to me that even "pets" get eaten....I was a little freaked out. I sold them a rooster too and sent them on there way... yes, I lost sleep for a few weeks worrying about my pig and geese. Some of my hubby's good friends are hispanic and they have told him that I need to watch who I sell too if I let them come to my house. That was their own words.... not mine.

Man, Im so sorry for his owners, and you too because he was your baby. Why people have to be like that I have no idea. It's not like you can't find slaughter goats just about anywhere, or that they cost a fortune.

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~Tami

Bob and Tami Parrington
COUNTRY HAVEN RANCH-

To get all the info on my new novel SHAKEDOWN, and watch the video trailer check out my writer's website: 'The Writer's Corner'

Heh. I'll take the opposite stance and say that yes, some of the comments did strike me as a little xenophobic or racist ... but I don't really care about that nor think there is something particularly wrong with it.

A culture has a right to preserve itself against the influence of other cultures. A person has the right to be a racist if they so chose to be. More so, it doesn't really affect me one way or another, so why would I care? There's this whole sinister aspect to equality that wasn't satisfied with controlling our actions in preventing discrimination, but now wants to control our thoughts as well.

I am sorry that happened. I worry about mine sometimes.I am away from the main road though and no one comes up here that doesn't have buisness here. I have lots of hispanic workers that come through at different times and they enjoy watching the goats and horses and sometimes ask if I would sell for meat but they don't like my price.They usually laugh at me when they find out I name them all.The white guys that come through as their supervisors are the ones that I have to watch. The stand around while the hispanics work and will rob you blind if given the chance.We have to make sure all stray tools and such are put up or they will be gone.The only problem we have had with animals though was someone poaching deer .Right in our drive way.Bubba didn't get away though the DNR lives at the end of my drive and nabbed him on the way out!!

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Chris
http://aberryvinefarm.blogspot.com/