Cattle seem to be more willing to lick and accept food from women, and are more likely to act aggressively around men
By Christa Lesté-Lasserre
22 May 2024
A recent trend for “cow cuddling” is said to reduce stress
Parilov/Shutterstock
Cattle used in human therapy programmes may prefer interacting with girls and women than with men, a small study suggests.
Animal-assisted therapy programmes usually involve dogs, rabbits or horses, but there is a recent trend towards “cow cuddling” to reduce stress and loneliness.
To learn more about the potential effects of cattle in animal therapy programmes, Katherine Compitus at New York University and her colleague Sonya Bierbower at the United States Military Academy West Point invited 11 people – five women, five men and one girl – aged 13 to 79 to interact with two castrated male Holsteins for at least 45 minutes each. Compitus had raised the steers, both around 1 year old, on a small sanctuary farm in Goshen, New York, after they were orphaned as newborns on a dairy farm.
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The pair equipped each volunteer with a brush and a bag of treats, before asking them to interact with the steers – which Compitus says behave like “toy poodles” – in their home pen, while respecting the animals’ choice to engage with them.
Immediately after spending time with the steers, the participants filled out a 24-point questionnaire describing their interactions and how they sensed the animals felt about the experience.