Fabio Pagnetti

An important story

My infancy in the 60s was spent in the Italian countryside, where houses distanced eachother about 30 minutes on foot. In each house 2 , 3 or even 4 families lived for a total of 15 to 20 people. They all reared animals for food or to be sold at market: chickens, turkeys, geese , ducks and sheep, pigs, milking cows, calves.

Even at my house we had all these animals, my job when I got home from school was to look after them all and they became my companions.

When the time came to slaughter them I suffered a lot, but it was explained to me that this was their destiny and that they were in this world to feed people.

When I grew up and got married, I continued with my parents traditions. Having inherited the country home I bought a horse, a donkey and a goat . Later a pig, a cow and some sheep. I was practically reconstructing the life I'd had as a child. This made me happy and proud but I still had the same problem as before.

Animals I got young were reared with all the attention and care necessary to keep them well, living free and peaceful in huge spaces, but when they grew up, that terrible day always arrived which was their last. Each time I felt sick. I felt awful but I remembered the words of my parents and thought this was the way it must be. When it was time to eat this meat it was more a sufference than a pleasure but I convinced myself this was genuine meat from animals reared on hay and barley and corn flour cultivated by me and therefore of excellent quality.

After a few years, I acquired a pair of Vietnamese pigs, the black ones, and piglets were born on my farm. In one of the litters a piglet who was smaller than the rest was born and was sure to soon die. I took him and brought him home.  With a babys bottle and lots of patience, my daughter day after day reared him and tamed him too. He lived in the house with us like a dog, he slept in a basket and did what he needed to do in the cat litter. At night, he was up in the arms watching television. When he reached adulthood, we took him back to the farm where at the age of 14 he died of old age.

The fact that this little pig behaved as a pet shook the whole family. Even now I have a cow who is 24 years old who I got from a farmer years ago when he was bringing it to the butchers because he couldn't keep it anymore. This splendid cow was pregnant and a calf was born on the farm. Once born seeing the love the mother had for her calf while licking it clean was enough to give you goosebumps. The calf grew healthy and strong, free in the fields with her mother. When she saw me, she jumped and ran wanting to play. After a year she was a beautiful young cow weighing 250Kg.

The neighbouring farmers told me it was time to bring her to the butchers. I hesitated but with the memories of what my relatives always said one day I took the decision. I called a truck to come get her and it left for the butchers: here there's a path the animal has to walk to reach the slaughterhouse. On arriving my young cow was unloaded and had to pass in this open walkway. I was in the square with my heart in my mouth once again asking myself was this the way it was supposed to be? Suddenly the cow stopped, she didn't want to proceed, she turned her head and looked at me with her big, sad brown eyes: she seemed to be asking me " Fabio where have you brought me? why are you abandoning me?". I was so struck in that moment that I didn't have time to stop the butchers who in a few minutes ended the life of my little cow. I started crying to the perplexity of the other breeders there waiting satisfied while also their cows were killed. From that day on I promised myself that I would never again eat any type of animal because just the thoughts of it made me sick. It's been more than 10 years since I ate meat and I feel great both physically and mentally. I have two horses, l donkey and the cow who all live peaceful and free in 4 hectares of land and they'll stay there until they die of natural causes.