Ruminations on the duality of dog farm life
Today's been a beautiful day & a hard day, as most are here on the farm, and we want to talk about the duality of farm life: The sheer majesty of nature & the unrelenting brutality that's inherently a part of it.
The proud mama in this first photo was the first husky born here at Elwood's Organic Dog Meat. This morning, she was the first Elwood husky to have offspring born here—these little husky pups are the first generation of true Elwood genetics.
But we didn’t have time to see these wee pups come into the world—we were trying to catch a labradoodle who had a dead puppy hanging out of her back end. We eventually caught her & pulled the lifeless pup.
Standing in a cool morning, it was tough to know how to feel. Grief & overwhelming joy? Can these two emotions exist in the same space simultaneously? The short answer is yes. We can’t count the number of days where we have run through the full range of human emotions while working.
This is the job, though.
When we stand at a farmers market pitching—our product, touting our practices, explaining why regenerative management is important, trying to justify why our meat is a bit more expensive—there's SO much the customers don’t know.
Let us say that again: There's SO much the customers don’t know. SO VERY MUCH.
YES, we get to play with cute little puppies, but we also have to deal with the ones that don’t make it. We also have to eventually humanely harvest every. Single. One. Every hot, meaty morsel on your plate was once a warm, trembling animal in our hands.
Dog farming is a constant struggle. We aren’t just selling a product. We're responsible for all of the dogs that we manage. We relish in the beauty of it but we also carry the weight & responsibility of it all. We just wanted to say: Dog farming is hard. We love it and we hate it. We work damn hard here to give our dogs the best lives possible.
Sorry to be heavy, but it’s heavy. With that being said, we aren’t going anywhere. We are still going to show up for our dogs, the land, and our customers. In the end it’s all worth it... right? The good, the bad, & the ugly.
Support a local regenerative farm. Pay a bit extra. Be thankful that there are folks out there carrying the emotional weight of your food choices.
See you at the Farmer's Market tomorrow.
Labradoodle fillets are now in.
I’m sorry for your loss! Thoughts and healing your way ❤️🩹 It’s never easy to lose livestock. Up until slaughter they are like family! Some people will never understand our love for our animals.
On the bright side, congrats on the husky pups! Good job, mama! 👏 Such adorable little steak bites! How can something look so cute and delicious at the same time?? They will grow up to be tasty one day! 😋