Animal Extremist Lexicon: Sexual Abuse

What’s in a Word?

Sexual Abuse: there’s enough negative connotation around these two words that normal people get angry- very angry. The legal definition from Merriam Webster dictionary is:

1a: the infliction of sexual contact upon a person by forcible compulsion;

1b: the engaging in sexual contact with a person who is below a specified age or who is incapable of giving consent because of age or mental or physical incapacity

2: the crime of engaging in or inflicting sexual abuse

It’s definitely an emotional trigger for all people and its victims truly suffer. Due to this, animal extremists love to use the words “sexual abuse” for describing normal, daily, routine occurrences that are part of best veterinary and best animal husbandry practices.

In the extremist’s mind, sexual abuse refers to putting a hand in the rectum or vagina of an animal. Think about it, your champion cow is struggling to give birth, you think nothing of going and helping pull the calf. According to the animal extremist viewpoint, you’ve just sexually abused your cow. Rectal palpation to determine what type of colic your horse is suffering from? Sexual abuse. Pregnancy check? Sexual abuse. Uterine flush on your mare? Sexual abuse. Even AI (artificial insemination) falls into their definition of what constitutes sexual abuse. Castration and spaying and neutering small animals is also within their definition.

Oregon’s IP 13 and Colorado’s IP 16 both brought up sexual abuse and these normal, routine, animal husbandry practices. If they were to get put on the ballot, the folks in the big cities, hearing these tales of how farmers abuse their animals, are likely to vote to end these practices.