Actually, have you ever noticed how a Negro, in particular down south, where they're pretty close to the soil, personifies MEST? The gatepost and the wagon and the whip and anything around there-a hat. They talk to them, you know. "What'sa mattuh wi' you hat?" They imbue them with personality.
In the killing of animals there is cruelty, rage, and the accustoming of oneself to the bad habit of shedding innocent blood.