It’s story time…

We lost Uno to a 22 bullet about 3 hours ago. You’ll remember that Uno and Dos are our pigs.

Two days ago Uno started limping on his back right leg. My husband got in the pen and pinned Uno to the side while my father-in-law had him around the neck. Holy Smokes, you’ve never heard a pig scream and cry so loud and so long. Thank goodness the kids were sleeping. It was nerve wracking listening to him scream. I thought they were “taking care” of him right then and there.

My DH didn’t find anything wrong and figured that Uno was injured while wrestling w/ Dos. I was worried Uno would hurt my hubby, but he’s such a softy. Uno not my DH.  The kids go and visit the pigs numerous times a day and feed them apples, zucchini and such from the garden. My DH figured he’d give Uno some time to heal as the pig was still eating and seemed to do better yesterday.

This a.m. DH goes out and finds that Uno in trying to get up to eat and can’t. He’s in pain whimpering & shaking and can’t use his back right or his front right legs. Agh. While the “boys” headed south 70 miles to the big city to pick up lumber for our new pump-house, I called Toad, the local vet, per hubby’s request.

After speaking w/ the vet (yes, they were open on Saturday AND I got to speak w/ the vet personally!) and answering his questions regarding Unos mental health and sores, Toad told me he was sure it was a spinal or neck injury. We had two choices, MRI or butchering him for meat before he starts bruising. Okay. Sounds good to me. I like pork.

Call hubby, he says he’ll take care of it when they get back in a couple of hours. Meantime, my MIL (mother-in-law) calls the meat locker to see if they can come out and take care of Uno.   Huh. Uh… hubby said he’ll take care of it. MIL says, oh, just gonna check and see if they do that still. Not gonna have ‘em come.  Well, of course they do it, they’re the only ones in town!!!!… I mean um, okay.

Within 3 minutes MIL says that the butchers will be out within the hour to take care of Uno. Hmm… I must look stupid.

I call DH back. At the time, I think it’s a good idea until DH reminds me he said he’d take care of it when he returned. Nope, he doesn’t want him butchered this a.m. DH is worried about infection or disease, besides he said he’d take care of it.

I tell MIL that DH says no, don’t butcher him. Now, MIL is upset. Told you not to call, I mean, uh… now what? While MIL goes to get her cell to call DH, FIL (father-in-law) who is with my hubby calls me. At this point, I’m upset because I want pork, in all sizes and cuts to freeze and eat until next fall. But, I know when my hubby makes up his mind, he’s the only one that can change it. I figured if MIL wanted to take on the battle she was more than welcome since she jumped the gun.

FIL says aren’t you related to Mr. Pig Farmer? Yes, I am he’s my second cousin. FIL tells me that he is also the USDA inspector for the northern part of our state. Didn’t know that. FIL says to call him and get a second opinion since he’s the inspector and has been the primary pig provider for our region for 30+ years. Okay. I like that idea.

MIL thinks this is a great idea. She calls. Which is fine, since I haven’t spoken to Mr. Pig Farmer in 20 years. Mr. Pig Farmer asks questions about sunburns and says he’s heading to town and will stop by on his way within the next couple of hours. Yep, I like this idea. MIL is also much happier.

While we wait, the kids and I get ready to go to our county Farmers Market and then the Fair where we’ll meet up w/ MIL after Mr. Pig Farmer and, hopefully, butchers leave.

The kids and I head out, go to Farmer’s Market and head to the fair. We’ve been gone a while now and after eating Funnel Cake and Italian Soda’s, we call MIL to see where she’s at. Well, MIL tells me, the butcher’s have been and gone and they sure were nice boys. Oh. Did Mr. Pig Farmer make it? Nope. Butchers came first. Went in the pen, saw how much pain Uno was in and told MIL that the only humane thing to do at this point is to put him out of his misery. This make a lot of sense to me.

MIL assures me it was quick and painless and that Uno is in a better place. She has to go and try to clean up all the blood. Butchers tell her not to worry about it, to leave it because Dos will take care of it. MIL doesn’t like this idea. It’s barbaric and she doesn’t want the kids happening upon Dos cleaning up Unos blood.

Let me tell you. I’m fine with the whole thing. The thought of crying didn’t even cross my mind. I like both Uno and Dos, but they are pigs. Butcher pigs. MIL while sharing how she made the decision to put Uno out of his misery and now how she has to clean up the blood, is crying. Agh.

She also shares with me that when she called my husband to tell him what happened and to let him know what cuts she ordered for us (DH and I) he let her know that he’s not eating that pig. She made all the decisions and took care of it. She wants the meat she can have it. As he did not get to make his own conclusion about Uno being sick or injured and neither did Mr. Pig Farmer, the USDA inspector, he’s not comfortable with his family eating the meat. MIL is upset because someone had to step up and make some decisions and take care of it. So she did. DH says, yes, you did.

And here we have it. My 8 year old is upset. And, that’s okay. She’s allowed. She has taken good care of both pigs. My 3.99 year old is very comfortable in the fact that he’s dead and we’ll be eating him soon. Not a tear. Though, she did comfort her older sister. I’m proud of them both.

The farm life learning curve continues…