We made camp in a small desert town. The temperature was over 30 deg and the sun was beating down hard with only a slight breeze as a reprieve. We sat in our ger and drank beer to pass the time, also making a trip out to collect some fire wood for the nomadic family hosting us. After some time our driver Jackie came past our ger and explained that our host family would be killing a Camel today to take to market, and asked if we would like to see. As someone who tries to only eat meat as minimully as possible, and when able to prepare food for themselves usually lives vegetarian, I found the idea of witnessing this event as something I needed to do since I still do consume meat. I also feel that in todays society there is a pretty massive disassociation between the act of killing and preparing meat and that of buying and consuming animal products.
I guess I should also mention that I would feel much differently about this experience had it been in an abattoir, in a first world country, in which there is a much more clinical and mechanical process, so far divorced from the basic necessity that i feel here. Also the likelyhood that the meat would end up on someone's plate where it wouldnt be respected as the life that it cost. Wherever you stand on the topic of consuming meat in a first world country. The same rules do not apply in a developing country. You simply could not survive as a vegetarian out here. The only veggies of decent quality have to be grown with spring water, making them very expensive to cultivate. Something many families who live and work this harsh and unforgiving landscape simply cant afford. Its difficult to explain the stark contrast there is out here, compared to what we are all used to at home. Its a completely different world, where our first world privlilage along with our responsibility to consume sustainably are not relevent. There is simply not yet affordable alternatives. To try and apply the moral standards I personally hold my self accountable to at home, would be quite arrogant and ignorant.
To try and explain the profitability of selling this meat. We were told the 400kg of meat would fetch only 2million MNT. About 1,155 AUD. This particular camel took 6 years to reach a point of being considered for sale. So you can see that if you took into account the cost incurred to raise this Camel. However it is still very much a necessity, and a way of life in this country. We were also told that the Camel herders do not like to kill the Camel for their meat, they spend a lot of time caring for them and even the poorest herder will provide his animals with annual vaccinations.. They are worth much more alive and only choose to sell them for their meat if no one will buy the Camel live, this is often the case straight after winter when the animals are skinny. Given all these factors I felt like I would be a hypocrite not to be involved. Otherwise I would have no place consuming the small amount of meat that I do at home when I have access to so many alternatives.
I dont want to go into to much detail about the process as I don't feel its something I need to describe for people to understand the enormity of the task as well as the moral weight that I felt. I also did not take any photos out of respect for the experience. I do want to talk about the process of killing the Camel, as well as what I took away from the experience.
As a brief overview, the entire process took about 2-3 hours and involved about 8 people. It was extremely heavy work with no tools other than a few knives and a rope. Initially the Camel had been held in a pen near by our ger camp. He had seemed quite calm and relaxed all afternoon. A couple of hours before sunset the family lead the Camel about 100m away from the camp. They then roped his feet and he was brought down onto his side. His head was laid on the ground and one of the family expertly located a gap in the upper vertebrae and severed the spinal column then pushed the knife into the brainstem. Quickly afterward they bled the Camel from a puncture to the throat. The whole process was conducted with extreme proficiency and much care was taken to ensure no undue stress was imposed on the Camel. While the camel lay on the ground everyone fell quiet, and the man who had felt deaths blow gave him stroke on the neck as if to day goodbye. There was a very solemn finality that came over me once the Camel gave its final laboured breathe. I will not forget that moment so long as I live. However the family were moving quickly to prepare the meat and were against the clock to get their harvest to market as fresh as possible.
Despite initially only wanting to spectate, once underway, I was soon offered to assist. All hands were required to conduct the task, and the rest of the family joined to help. As I mentioned I don't think its necessary to go into any more detail from there. It was heavy and gruesome work. Which I'm sure you can imagine or investigate yourself. Definitely a full frontal exposure to Camel anatomy. In fact if you are a meat eater, I would strongly suggest that it is something you should bare whitness to, and something you should consider very carefully whenever you do consume meat.
After a fairly restless sleep and much moral reflection. I have woken today to write this blog entry as a reflection of my experience. As well as a call to action for people to consider very carefully the sustainability and ethhics of their eating habits. I most definitely will be re-doubling my efforts to marginalize the amount of meat I consume. So as to further a more sustainable and compassionate future. Despite this being a part of the circle of life in this part of the world. I now find myself a very strong advocate of abolishing the wasteful and indifferent nature of our western culture toward animal products, and re-affirmed in me the need for a support, from both camps, of conciencious meat eaters, as that is the transitional step we should all be working toward. I hope that my shared experience will make others strongly question there own perception and morality.
- Tom
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