Responsible experimental technician at the “Animal Nutrition” department, University of Hohenheim

The image shows three of our experimental cows which are no longer used for research and are therefore spending their retirement on pasture. This is the case at around six years of age. After that, a cow can easily live for another six to eight years.

The long time that our “pensioners” spend on the pasture also shows that the stress caused by the tests and sampling is very low. The research topics that are being worked on with the help of the fistulated cows range from feed conversion to the reduction of climate-damaging methane emissions.

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International student in the “Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics and Subtropics” Master’s program at the University of Hohenheim

When my mother, a big cow lover, saw the fistulated cows on campus for the first time, she turned to me with wide eyes and exclaimed: “They have holes in them!” 

I, a newly enrolled student of agricultural sciences, watched with fascination. A million questions came to my mind. We learned from the information board that these laboratory animals can provide valuable insights into the metabolic processes of feed. 

This encounter inspired me to choose the topic of my Master’s thesis two years later. Using the rumen juice collected through the fistulas, I am investigating the protein digestibility of soybean and rapeseed meal in the laboratory (“in vitro”) and comparing it with that from “in vivo” tests, in which the samples are collected directly from the rumen of the living cow.

The first sight of the round “windows” may be surprising, but these cows are now part of everyday life for many students and walkers in Hohenheim. In any case, I am very happy about them. This is because, like me, they contribute to research.

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Student of the “Bioeconomy” Master’s program at the University of Hohenheim, member of the Sustainability working group

The picture “Group of three fistulated cows” touches on an old dichotomy: The scientific use of animals allows us to gain deep insights into their anatomy and their way of life. At the same time, it makes the instrumentalization of a living being visible. 

At university, the animals often enjoy reliable supervisors and a long existence. They wear a surgical opening for this purpose. You could see it as a compromise that reconciles care and benefit calculation. 

Advocates point out that this provides science with findings that improve feeding, reduce suffering in herds, and conserve resources. But in my opinion, this debate often misses the point: We have bred animals for efficiency over generations, converted their habitats and made them dependent – until their “value” is primarily functional and their own will becomes invisible. 

In my opinion, a social reorientation of breeding goals, consumption, and agriculture that takes autonomy and ecological limits seriously would therefore make sense. 

The real question is: How can we relinquish a logic that treats animals primarily as means rather than as beings with their own dignity?

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