Traumatized?

Warning: This story may be a bit upsetting to some readers.

Friday night I got a text from a friend...I briefly glanced at it....there was one word in it I didn't know, but it said something about going to participate in a class that had to do with horses. I decided to be safe that I had better look up the word....and when I did, I discovered that yes, my friend was in fact inviting me to participate in a horse dissection class, not horseback riding (which is something we had previously discusssed). After a giggle, I decided that I couldn't pass up on something so random, so I said that it sounded interesting and that I would like to participate. I was thinking it would be fairly comparable to a veterinary science class in the States.

When I showed up Saturday morning to watch, I discovered that, 1) the class was taught in the local minority language (that I only speak a little of), and 2)a group of male students was holding down a tied horse...still alive. They then proceeded to kill it right there in front of everyone. And, I suppose since it's China and the school doesn't have a lot of funds...it wasn't done via injection like they put animals down in the States...the professor simply found the artery in the neck and proceeded to just drain all the blood from it that way.

If it makes anyone feel better, the horse didn't seem to suffer really...but it did take a while to die, and that was sad. I then stuck around to watch them skin the horse and prepare to dissect it. My friend has invited me to come again next week...I think I might. Much as I wish they employed similiar practices to the States, I realize that this agricultural school doesn't have access to the kind of funding that universities that I am used to do.