The Story of Pepperoni the Bull
AKA: Why breeding livestock is not any more inhumane than what they do to themselves, despite what PETA says
WARNING: THIS STORY DISCUSSES ANIMAL INJURY AND EUTHANASIA
(story is courtesy of @mrmyu , and shared with his permission)
So letās get some basics out of the way first:
Most beef cattle and sheep producers use what is calledĀ ānatural coverā to breed their livestock. That is where a bull or ram is turned out into a paddock with one or more females in estrus, and they let nature take its course.Ā
Sometimes the male is put into a barn stall or other fenced area with a female, particularly if one of them is a first-timer. It is considered best practice to put a first time bull in with experienced cows, or a first-time heifer in with an experienced and gentle bull. This is done to reduce stress to both animals. Stressed animals donāt get pregnant or get others pregnant.
Another thing to point out is that female animals in estrus are very....insistent on being bred. If you have been around a female cat in heat, you know they yowl and pace are generally fairly disruptive. Larger mammals experience similar urges. Cows literally go into standing estrus, where they will mount other cows or allow other cows to mount them. If a cow isnāt in estrus and that happens? Or if they are and just donāt like the male? The mounted cow will get away and will not allow it, as you will see.
Now here comes the story. @mrmyu ās family has cattle, and his father had purchased a new bull named Pepperoni. (We don't know his actual name, but spoiler alert, that's his fate by the end). Pepperoni was the catch of the county in cow terms: excellent pedigree, sturdy, good lines...he would be a good addition to the herd for years to come. And since he was a first timer, he was put in overnight with a more experienced lady.
Well, apparently Pepperoni was not as good with the ladies as had been hoped, because come morning, Pepperoniās erm...pepperoni... was broken. Half of it was at a right angle to the other half, likely due to a well-placed kick. Because bulls have fibro-elastic penises, that meant that it couldnāt be retracted, and was beyond a vetās ability to assist. The bull had to be put down out of mercy.
The reason I bring this up is twofold: one, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN. Even on the best of farms, sometimes things go wrong. Biology is messy, animals are unpredictable, and even the most caring, conscientious farmer can have an animal get severely injured due to bad luck.Ā
Two, if a female doesnāt want to be bred by a particular male, she has ways of letting him know, and they are effective ones. Particularly in a production setting, where there may be more than one male available. Even if she is in the height of her heat and really wants to be bred, she can decide a given male isnāt the right one for her, and forced mating is extremely unlikely. Farmers will cull males that are too rough with the females. Sometimes, as you can see, the females sort of handle the culling themselves.Ā
