History Main / SqueamishAboutSlaughter

* During the Parks department's annual BBQ in ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', Ron decides to slaughter and cook a live pig in the middle of the public park where the event is being held, to the dismay of the attendees, passersby, and everyone else involved. He doesn't get to slaughter it there, though, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome because a passing policeman tells him it would violate a number of health codes.]]
* When the butcher of the Greens & Grains wins two live cows in a [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame poker game]] in ''Series/TenItemsOrLess'', the employees are aghast at the manager's plan to hold a promotional slaughter in the store. He proceeds with the plan nonetheless, which involves sleeping with [[ObstructiveBureaucrat an inspector]] from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture US Department of Agriculture]] to obtain the permits necessary to legally turn the animals into food.
* In ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', a chicken Rose is petsitting goes missing at the same time that Sophia's sister Angela is visiting. When Angela lets slip that the chicken she cooked for dinner is from "the garage" where Rose kept the chicken, the girls are disgusted at the thought of eating someone's beloved pet. [[spoiler: It turns out the chicken had escaped from its cage, and Angela was referring to the ''freezer'' in the garage.]]
* When the group visits Cindy's relatives' farm in ''Series/ThreesCompany'', Mr. Furley is tasked with killing a chicken for their dinner. He isn't able to work up the courage to do it and encourages the mostly flightless bird to fly away to freedom.
* ''Series/SchittsCreek'': David and Patrick are offered a deep discount at a posh wedding venue, but as they are about to leave, they hear a horrible sound coming from the nearby farm. The manager explains that the farm processes their pork on that day of the month, which is why it is discounted for weddings. David, Patrick, Stevie and Alexis are apalled, and David rejects the venue. Later, Patrick refuses pork at dinner and even the food-obsessed David says he'll have to have some later.
* In ''Series/{{Taxi}}'', the male cabbies go camping in the mountains and end up starving and snowbound. By luck, a wild turkey wanders into their cabin. The cabbies decide that they should give thanks for their good fortune and Reverend Jim winds into a stirring eulogy for the soon-to-be-deceased bird, whom he names "Tom". By the end, the cabbies are all crying so much that they let it go.

--> '''Santiago''': The apartment will run red with the blood of Nikolaj!\\

-->So is the superior man affected towards animals, that, having seen them alive, he cannot bear to see them die; having heard their dying cries, he cannot bear to eat their flesh. Therefore he keeps away from his slaughter-house and cook-room.
-->''Mencius: Liang Hui Wang I''

-->'''Cowboy:''' Come on Jimmy, let's take a peek at the killing floor.\\

* Subverted in ''Film/APerfectGetaway''. Cydney and Cliff appear to be unnerved by Nick and Gina nonchalantly butchering a goat Nick hunted. [[spoiler:However, it is soon revealed that Cliff and Cyd are a pair of SerialKillers who have done MUCH worse things to other humans.]]

* In ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'', one of the secrets locked in Area 51 that the public is not ready to see is a tape entitled, "How Sausage Is Made".

* The ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' quest "Bringing Home the Bacon" centers around a farmer's discovery of pigs as an edible food source. The player character is quite uncomfortable with the idea of slaughtering pigs for food.
* ''VideoGame/ReturnOfTheObraDinn:'' During "A Bitter Cold", one crew member throws up as a cow is slaughtered on the orlop deck. The others involved seem quite amused by this ("Never been on a farm, Charlie?").
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'' has a humorous example: Red XIII normally doesn't have an issue with eating meat, but he's understandably disturbed when, at the end of a sidequest, an old lady cooks a meal from one of the hens the party just saved from death. Red can't help feeling sorry for it and the remaining hens, and even the GameOver tune plays to drive the point home.

-->'''Cowboy:''' Come on Jimmy, let's take a peek at the killing floor.
-->'''Jimmy:''' ''gasp!''
-->'''Cowboy:''' Don't let the name throw you, Jimmy. [[BaitAndSwitchComment It's not really a floor, it's more of a steel grating that allows material to sluice through so it can be collected and exported.]]

* ''Literature/TheDevilsDictionary'': His definition of '''Carnivorous''' suggests that Bierce might feel this way (not surprising if so, as he'd been in some of the bloodiest Civil War battles, and is widely thought to have [[ShellShockedVeteran suffered PTSD]] as a result).
-->'''Carnivorous''', ''adj''. Addicted to the cruelty of devouring the timorous vegetarian, his heirs and assigns.
* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'' is a ReincarnateInAnotherWorld story in which a bookworm from modern-day Japan dies and regains awareness as the five year old daughter of a poor family in a MedievalEuropeanFantasy. This happens in late autumn, when the family is in the middle of stocking up on meat for the winter. This results in the protagonist being brought along to places where animals are being slaughtered and butchered in plain sight for the first time and responding with FaintInShock. She gets used to it to an extent later on.
* The protagonist of ''Literature/SilenceOfTheLambs'' and its film adaptation was traumatized as a child when she was staying on a farm and heard screaming one night, which turned out to the the sound of lambs being slaughtered, and she tried to rescue the lambs by setting them free.

There are a multitude of ways a character can find themselves in this situation. Common examples include visiting a relative's [[DownOnTheFarm old-style farm]], or students learning about nutrition and the food chain. A gag that shows up on occasion is when a Cloudcuckoolander tries to slaughter an animal in a blatantly inappropriate venue or public space, such as a family party.

* In ''Series/OurFlagMeansDeath'', there's a flashback to Stede's childhood, where his father tries to make him more manly by slaughtering a rabbit in front of him with the blood spraying onto Stede's face. Shockingly, this only makes him ''more'' squeamish about blood and death, and it takes him most of the first season to get used to the violence of his new pirate lifestyle.

* During the Parks department's annual BBQ in ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', Ron decides to slaughter and cook a live pig in the middle of the public park where the event is being held, to the dismay of the attendees, passersby, and everyone else involved.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'' is a ReincarnateInAnotherWorld story in which a bookworm from modern-day Japan dies and regains awareness as the five year old daughter of a poor family in a MedievalEuropeanFantasy. This happens in late autumn, when the family is in the middle of stocking up on meat for the winter. This results in the protagonist being brought along to places where animals are being slaughtered and butchered in plain sight for the first time and responding with FaintInShock. She gets used to it to an extent later on.

[[folder:Films]]

* When the group visits Cindy's relatives' farm in ''Series/ThreesCompany'', Mr. Furley is tasked with killing a chicken for their dinner. He isn't able to work up the courage to do it and encourages the mostly flightless bird to [[CluckingFunny fly away to freedom]].

[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/SilverSpoon https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chicken_manga.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Choppy! Choppy!]]