Maggie the Cartoonist submitted this ancient Garfield as an OY, commenting: “Farms must be fun.”
…
This is a repeat, but it would have been even better as a “Garfield minus Garfield” strip.
Saturday Morning OYs – November 23rd, 2024
Maggie the Cartoonist submitted this ancient Garfield as an OY, commenting: “Farms must be fun.”
…
This is a repeat, but it would have been even better as a “Garfield minus Garfield” strip.
Comics I Don't Understand 
I’ve had a lot of farmer friends, and they made similar jokes. They’d name the animals, then later say things like, “Well, we ate Fred today…”
Xine Fury: I Have friends who own a farm but don’t farm it, rent all the land. They raised a calf once for slaughter.
Their daughter named it “Hamburger”. Which was particularly shocking since the daughter was planning to become a vet (although ultimately she wound up as a meat inspector, which is an interesting U-turn and perhaps relates to the naming, now that I think on’t…)
My housemate and I bought three lambs and named them Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. You might not be able to eat Gladys but you can always eat Dinner.
Old joke: Visitor asks a farmer about a three-legged pig in his own fancy pen. Farmer tells a drawn-out tale of how the pig saved him and his family from a fire.
VISITOR: And he lost his leg in the fire?
FARMER: Nope. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to eat him all at once.
There does appear to be an old taboo regarding the naming of animals you’re raising for eating.
You can always name animals meant for eating after your enemies and get some symbolic revenge.
A long time ago I heard that farmers learn to never let the children name the animals (or they will be friends and will not be able to be eaten).