Why?

It seems those who choose to live the country lifestyle must also learn to deal with this issue. There are times when the "donated" animal needs to be put down and times when the "donated" animal can be butchered for meat or bait or skin. I would rather someone drop off an old dog that I end up putting down than to think of it wandering around in the wild with no one to care for it. I would be perfectly comfortable being an animal cemetery type place if I had the space. Also a slaughtered domesticated animal can be used to feed wild animals that you can then kill and eat yourself.

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www.MontanaSticksAndStones.com at Goshen Farm

Dog isn't bad either.

The nice ones ask.
Others just dump their animals.

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

No one does that here, too close to the city or they know people will eat them. :/

We have had animals dumped at the property too. When I lived closer to Dallas I was on first name basis with the local Animal Control Officer. I would leave a message on her Cell and she would usually ask if I could hold it for a day or two till she could make it over my way.
I came home one afternoon about six years ago and there was a pit bull mix with his food bowl, leash, and a 30LB bag of dog food sitting at my front gate! That one went to the pound right away!!
We now have a barn cat now who just showed up one day. I suspect he was dumped too, as he is not feral at all.
Andrew

Yep most are edible, I would possibly add free sheep to my flock if any good or eat them, or just send them to auction with culls... Why turn down free meat/money. I kind of agree on the biosecurity issue. I would happily take rabbits though, even pet rabbits are good eating and meat rabbits are easy to add to a herd for new blood.

Why is nobody giving me free animals, I must be in an actual farm area where people only keep animals of value... people always want to throw in "free cats" with any deal though, NO CATS PLZ

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Check out my farm/ranch blog - www.evansranch.ca

Simple.
Quarantine, feed for a few days/weeks and then a spot reserved in freezer camp. No to all critters you don't care to eat.

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" It's better to ride even if you get thrown, than to wind up just wishin' ya had."

Chris Ledoux

I do not think highly of killing pets for food unless starvation is an issue. If the person that takes the animal tells the owner that's what may/will happen then I guess it is ethical, IMHO. I hope the dispatch is humane and quick as possible. Not a vegetarian speaking.

People around here will dump dogs, and cats, thinking farms will take them in...Often times they get shot for chasing livestock. Cats are just a huge pain in the but.

Free livestock is an unheard of thing here though...Except for llamas....Those are free 80% of the time.

I make something very clear to people. I get offers of free rabbits occasionally. I have only taken in one because I tell them simply "If I can't breed it or eat it then it has no place here, this is a farm not an animal shelter". I have taken in one rabbit after this, and the lady said she would rather see her rabbit be useful, live well and die fast for a good cause (food) then suffer in a tiny cage at an animal shelter and possibly go to someone incompetent that would let her be in pain and die poorly.

So it's that simple. If it ends up here I am breeding it or eating it. No exceptions.

I think people hear farm & they think of all the animals on Charlottes Web or something similar! The worst part is when they offer the animals to my kids. When offered dogs I say "can you guarantee they won't kill my chickens or chase my goats?" When they offer me cats I quickly tell them they won't last long at my place, dogs will get them quickly. I say no to all inside pets do to my asthma. Then just tell them we don't have the fencing or shelter for whatever large animal they have. I do always say if I hear of someone in the market for X I will let you know. I have helped several people get free mini horses, goats & chickens, they have all been thankful & excited to get their new animals.

Why are llamas 80% free? Just curious.

I have several cats and feed many more. People offer me their cats often and seem to be genuinely confused when I am not overjoyed. "What's one more mouth" they think. It's the vet bills that will get you. And they never seem to give you money for that! Funny how that works

Hundreds of people here have eaten cat and never knew it.
There was an oriental restaurant location that was shut down in the mid 70s for serving cat. It was doing that that for months before they figured out where all the neighborhood cats went. What clued them in was the Chinese gal that was going to our local humane society and adopting several cats a week. If they had just started collecting the loose ones on the other side of town who knows how long it would have gone on.
I was there and saw the sign on the door.
The same location different owners did the same thing in the 90s.
That time I heard it on the radio.

Lamb chops, goat chops, roast rabbit come to mind. At this point in our household, I would definitely take any such animals, but I would butcher them for food.

I would pass on the dogs and cats though.

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But MichaelZ would you tell them (owners) what was going to happen when you accepted them?

I had an Amish neighbor offer me a Hafflinger mare once...not for free, wanted me to buy her. I was tempted but know my limits.

Our problem is animals being dumped off on us. Dogs mostly with a few cats. The dogs we take in whenever possible, also the cats. We are at our limits now with 5 dogs and 5 cats underfoot. The feral cats we see running around the farm usually don't last long with the hawk, owl, eagle and yote population around us. Unfortunate as we could really use some barn cats...and no, that is not an invitation to deposit some on the edge of our property for us, LOL.

I seriously think folks just drive out to the country with their surplus pets and say, "Oh, look, that looks like an Amish farm, them Amish LOVE animals. We'll drop it off there!" And so they do. Our last two were beautiful 8 week old brother and sister border collie/hound mix pups. Wonderful dogs. The little boy was tossed out of a car onto a bridge deck as his front pads were torn up and infected. Our free dogs have cost us vet bills, but they have paid us back in laughter and good memories.

I seriously wish somebody would offer me some free meat animals. I would definitely take them.

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I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here!

I probably would let them know I was going to butcher them since these were probably pets. I think once you get the word out about your "slaughterhouse" the adoption requests will slow down.

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