Sex for animals

Every year hundreds of millions of animals in the Netherlands alone die… as virgins. There are several reasons for this sad fact, the main one being that most male farm animals never make it past pubescence. Bulls end as veal. Roosters are not economical because they don’t lay eggs and need more feed per gram of meat than hens do. So on their first day, roosters are either chopped up alive or sent to a gas chamber (both methods being equally economical). After all, only a small number of males are necessary for reproduction. These few animals with useful traits are enticed to ascend a fake female and spout their semen in a bag, after which it is used to artificially inseminate as many female animals as possible.

The people at Wonder were outraged when they heard about this situation, and decided to launch a campaign. Soon, popular newspapers had their outcry on the front pages. A well known radio DJ devoted his show to live animal dating. Professors at the agricultural university gave their mixed opinions on the question whether or not animals consider sex important.

Wonder called for people to send in their signatures, aiming to take the issue to parliament. Hundreds of signatures came in, which was encouraging but an insufficient amount to actually influence politics. The campaign did have some real results though. A young lady from Leiden who owned three lonely hens, made a snuggling corner for them and bought a rooster to keep them company. And, most importantly, many people discussed animal rights with their friends. This rather silly sex campaign served the purpose of focusing their attention on a truly serious matter: the beastly way we treat farm animals.