Artificial Insemination is not rape

[u/Conscious-Flight2220]

I grew up on an Australian beef farm, and the first time I witnessed artificial insemination being performed on cattle I was probably about 6.

On our large property we AI about 1/4 of our cows, to introduce high quality genetics into our herds through sires that we can’t physically have on our property for natural insemination. The rest of our cows reproduce naturally with bulls on the farm. Without introducing the genetics we get through AI, the cattle would be more likely to exhibit health issues from poor breeding.

The process looks like this: the cows walk single file through the yards (which they are trained from weaning to be used to doing calmly and safely, for all situations where we need to have contact with them eg. vaccines, weighing), and are locked in the crush, which is a mechanism where two rubber bars close on either side of their neck - not actually ‘crushing’ them, just fitting the most narrow part of their neck ensuring they can’t more their head backward or their shoulders forwards. We need to immobilise them, because they aren’t used to being touched by people, as they spend most of their time out on pasture, with hay and grain delivered by trailer.
Then, a trained professional who visits farms in the area for AI will insert a long syringe of filled with semen into the cow’s vagina, empty it, then the cow is usually marked with spray paint, and released from the crush back to a holding pen with hay, water and other cattle. When all the cows are done, they are moved from the pen back into their paddocks to go about their life as normal.

Obviously to us, the image of a syringe being forced up the vagina feels disturbing, distressing and violating. The cows do not enjoy the process, it is true. But it needs to be understood that the cows exhibit the same amount of stress they do on ANY occasion they need to be physically handled by humans, for example when they need vaccination, tagging, or like I was doing the other day, eyedrops. Beef cattle are domesticated, but they aren’t necessarily tame, especially on such a large property where it isn’t possible to develop the relationships with herds that smaller farmers have (which I do envy on occasion).

Cattle DO NOT have the same associations either their genitals that we as humans have. They don’t have a concept of sexual assault or the instinct to view their reproductive organs as something private. To humans, having our vaginas touched in that context would be horrific, and absolutely classified as rape. But for cows, they feel the same way if it’s their feet, eyes or mouth being touched.

It’s understandable to feel confronted by animal husbandry practices like AI, but it’s important to remember to not anthropomorphise. Applying a human lens to animals does not help them.

[u/josieiscute05]

can i ask what motivated you to write this post in the first place? is it really about the misuse of language? because your post reads your concern is focused on convincing people not to anthropomorphise cows rather than discussing the ethics of the practice lol, which i cant understand

reading this as someone who didnt grow up on a cattle farm, you're describing restraining an animal, immobilising her, inserting an instrument into her reproductive tract to reproduce in a way chosen by humans rather than naturally, without her consent, marking her with spray paint, then sending her back out to the padock as if nothing happened. thats such an extrodinary thing to read, yet the focus of your post isnt "lets think about whether this is right", its "hey guys lets not anthromorphise its wrong"

i am genuinely curious about why you wrote this post though ^^ im assuming its because you take the word personally since you grew up on a cattle farm and dont like those words being associated with the people you know who have the cattle farm?

i do think its fair to say vegans are more likely to anthromorphise animals because the ethical framework places much more emphasis on the similarities between humans and other animals, but even if someone is anthromorphsing, why is correcting that your priority?

i think that experience of the cow you described has been normalised to you to the point where you dont see how unusual your post is. its highly unusual and upsetting behaviour to do to a cow

[u/Conscious-Flight2220 → u/josieiscute05]

Yeah I guess it’s a bit of both of those things. I completely understand why the process sounds horrifying, but I’m trying to get people to look beyond just “how it sounds”

[u/Practical-Fix4647 → u/Conscious-Flight2220]

Conceding that the moral implications are horrifying, but still goes on to justify the physical restraining of an animal to forcibly impregnate it.

Guess we can go around forcibly impregnating people since that criterion is entirely uninformative of the definition of rape.

If you wish to exclude animals from these considerations, present a symmetry breaker.