A Lamb is Slain

***Warning:  Graphic***

"Understand, when you eat meat, that something did die.  You have an obligation to value it--not just the sirloin but also all those wonderful tough little bits."--Anthony Bourdain

I believe that if you eat meat, you should be able to kill the animal yourself.  So far, with the exception of fish, I've remained a complete hypocrite.

A month ago I took a step toward my conviction, and watched my Mauritanian friend kill and dress a sheep.

It was a somber experience for both Eric and me.

But before we get to the gruesome murder scenes...I have to mention that this sheep didn't look like a sheep to me.  How can it be called a sheep if l can't knit a sweater from its wool?

So I embarked on a journey to educate myself.  And to my sheer (sorrry!) amazement I learned that there are wool sheep and hair sheep.  The latter being quite common here in Southern Africa.

The before photo.

The first cut

Blood draining into the hole

Waiting for all of the blood to drain

After butchering the animal, my friend tossed the liver and testicles on the hot grill for us to sample.

Somehow I'd lost my appetite, so I declined.

I did sample the BBQ'd lamb shish kabobs the following day.  And I had a new respect for each and every bite.