Karacul (also caracul)    noun

Oxford Dictionary definition:  1. Asian sheep whose lambs have dark curled fleece.  2. Fur of this.

Our definition:   Hailing from the desert regions of Central Asia, Karakul sheep are renowned for their ability to forage and thrive under extremely harsh living conditions.  They can survive severe drought conditions because of a special quality they have, storing fat in their tails.

They are horrifically exploited, being considered a “multi-purpose breed”, and are bred for their meat, milk, wool and the fur of newborn and foetal lambs.  The Investigative Services Section of The Humane Society of the United States produced a detailed report in July 2000 in which they conclude:

“Despite an overall reduction in broadtail and karakul production since the 1970s, anti-fur activists still have reason for alarm. The widespread popularity of this fur may indicate an upswing in its production. The public has been misled to believe that this fur is entirely a by-product of the meat industry. In reality these animals are killed for fashion not food. This investigation documents the suffering, inhumane slaughter, and waste of lives behind broadtail and karakul fashions. It is hoped that this investigation will convince retailers and caring consumers that the slaughter of these farmed animals is every bit as cruel, grotesque, and inexcusable as that of any other fur-bearing animals.”

I cannot find anything about karakul living in natural conditions.

Keratin    noun

Oxford Dictionary definition:  Fibrous protein in hair, hooves, claws etc

Our definition:  Keratin is an extremely strong protein that is a major component in skin, hair, nails, hooves, horns, and teeth in all animals, including humans.  Of course humans sometimes think they need more of it than their own body manufactures because they don’t want frizzy hair (!) so they grind up the keratin-containing horns, hooves, feathers, quills, and hair of other animals and add it to their shampoo.

Kermes    noun

Oxford Dictionary definition:  1. Female of insect with berry-like appearance that feeds on kermes oak, evergreen oak.  2. Red dye made from these insects.

Our definition:  A scale-insect.  The males are relatively small and are capable of flight, while the females are wingless.  In May, when full grown, the females are spherical, 6 to 7 mm in diameter, of a reddish-brown colour, and covered with an ash-coloured powder. They are found attached to the twigs or buds by a circular lower surface 2 mm. in diameter, and surrounded by a narrow zone of white cottony down.  At this time there are concealed under a cavity, formed by the approach of the abdominal wall of the insect to the dorsal one, thousands of eggs of a red colour, and smaller than poppy seed, which are protruded and ranged regularly beneath the insect.  At the end of May or the beginning of June the young escape by a small orifice, near the point of attachment of the parent. They are then of a fine red colour, elliptic and convex in shape, but rounded at the two extremities, and bear two threads half as long as their body at their posterior extremity.  At this period they are extremely active, and swarm with extraordinary rapidity all over the food plant, and in two or three days attach themselves to fissures in the bark or buds, but rarely to the leaves. In warm and dry summers the insects breed again in the months of August and September, and then they are more frequently found attached to the leaves.

Kid    noun

Oxford Dictionary definition:  1. Young goat.  2. Leather from this.

Our definition:

Kidney    noun

Oxford Dictionary definition:  1. Either of two organs serving to excrete urine.  2. Animal’s kidney as food.

Our definition:  1. Kidneys filter blood to get rid of waste.  Each kidney is made up of about a million filtering units called nephrons.  Each nephron filters a small amount of blood. The nephron includes a filter, called the glomerulus, and a tubule. The nephrons work through a two-step process. The glomerulus lets fluid and waste products pass through it; however, it prevents blood cells and large molecules, mostly proteins, from passing. The filtered fluid then passes through the tubule, which sends needed minerals back to the bloodstream and removes wastes. The final product becomes urine.

2.  A urine-contaminated internal organ of a murdered animal.  For food.  Yum?