Just your average Tuesday

So I pull into Red Wolf Sanctuary at 10:00 AM this morning, right on time. I recruited two friends to come out with me, warning them about the vast amounts of poo they would have to endure and assuring them that Rosie made it all worth it. Everything was going well. Justin, a long-time volunteer (who is also the youngest person present), is there as well as another volunteer. Paul is absent. I stroll up to Justin and ask where Paul might be.
"Oh, he called and said he's picking up a cow for us." Says he.
"Oh, okay." Says I, not really paying attention to what he said. Then my brain catches up to my ears. "Wait, what?!!"

So. A cow was donated to RWS by a farmer. It died of unknown causes. It was a completely intact pregnant cow, and it needed to be butchered. So that was the task of this morning. It was very different from slaughter days at the Dell Cheetah Centre. At the Dell, the animals were slaughtered and skinned and quartered before we saw them - we dealt mainly with the cutting up hunks of meat that were already separated from the animal-looking structure. At Red Wolf Sanctuary, us volunteers were involved every step of the way. From hooking up the cow to the hydraulics to skinning it to cutting off its head to emptying its abdominal cavity, we were there. Paul gave us lessons in anatomy and beef cuts as he guided us through the whole process. You might think that, as a vegetarian, I would be very upset by this process. The truth is, it was more interesting than disgusting or depressing. It is sad that this cow died and its calf died with it, but wolves need to eat and all they eat is meat. To quote the wise Mufasa, "We're all connected in the circle of life". So I learned a lot about cow anatomy, organizing freezers, knives, and power saws.

That took up most of the morning. Then we ate lunch (we were hungry despite the vast quantities of raw meat we had just handled), played with Rosie, cleaned the bears' enclosures, did a water run, fed the raptors, and that's just about it. I'm happy to say that even the chore of butchering a cow has not dampened my enthusiasm for this wonderful place. I can't wait to go back out on Tuesday.

Rosie says: "Do I detect a hint of cow?"