kinder to be euthanized

kinder to be euthanized:
kinder than the shoving of the forklift
and the brutal crunch of shearing bone.
kinder than the winch and chains
hauling, lifting hundreds of pounds
by limbs already broken.
kinder than being dumped down the cripple chute,
then left in an alley with
every other infirm, battered beast.
kinder than the bolt gun,
than each and every averted eye,
than the realization none will help,
than trying to communicate your misery to mud and dirt.
kinder than the infections in the wounds,
the fever, the delirium, the unquenched thirst,
the growing weakness, the sounds of slaughter,
kinder than laying in your own filth,
than ants crawling and biting,
inhabiting your insides, and
kinder than the black hordes of hungry flies -
kinder to be euthanized.