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As we learned on yesterday’s daf according to the Mishna if an animal that was a ba’al mum – it had a permanent blemish that precluded it from being brought as a sacrifice – was consecrated by its owner and then was redeemed, it becomes an ordinary animal. This stands in contrast with an animal that was consecrated as a sacrifice and developed a mum – a permanent blemish – afterwards. In such a case, even though its condition does not allow it to be brought as a sacrifice and it must be redeemed, nevertheless it retains an element of holiness.
The baraita on our daf that makes this point concludes the discussion of each type of animal with a general principle. Regarding the animal that was a ba’al mum prior to being consecrated the baraita states:
The principle in this matter is: They are like non-sacred animals in all matters. They have only the mitzva of valuing them for redemption.
Regarding the animal that became a ba’al mum only after being consecrated as a sacrifice the baraita states:
The principle in the matter is that they are like consecrated animals in all matters. You have only the permission to eat them.
We explore how the mishna's distinction turns on which kind of sanctity the animal ever had. If a permanent blemish came before consecration, the animal could never go on the altar, so the consecration only attached to its monetary value (kedushat damim). When it is redeemed, that sanctity transfers fully to the redemption money, and the animal becomes ordinary ḥullin, liable to the firstborn obligation and the priestly gifts (zero'a, leḥayayim, keivah).
If the animal was consecrated while unblemished, the sanctity attached to its body (kedushat ha-guf). A later blemish and redemption let it be eaten, but they do not fully erase that bodily holiness. This is why pesulei ha-mukdashin remain forbidden to shear or work even after redemption. The animal is permitted but not fully profane, and the Torah's image for that in-between status is "as the gazelle and the hart." It is eaten the way game is eaten, not the way a flock animal is eaten.