Do you think that animals can give consent?

14 Comments

There have been quite a few zoophilia posts here on is it normal and a lot of people call it rape because the animal cannot verbally give consent. I personally believe that animals (and humans) can give consent without having to use words. Body language can tell a lot about an animal's feelings. It's sort of like "bedroom eyes". I was wondering how other people here feel about this topic. Please, try to be polite about it.

Yes, they can. 21
No, they cannot. 9
I'm not sure. 6
Other (comment). 0
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Comments ( 14 )
  • dom180
    10 years ago

    I think animals can give consent, because consent is not solely a verbal thing. However, there are a lot of problems with this. Animals cannot give *informed* consent to cross-species sex, since they cannot understand the consequences of it. Animals do not necessarily have to power to refuse sex, making any consent given the default and you can question whether it's consent at all.

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    • Zetawolf
      9 years ago

      What the hell is *informed* consent as it applies to an animal? Informed consent as it applies to a person is often cited as the reason a child cannot say "yes" to sex with an adult.....even if they DO say "yes" with their body responding. They may be PHYSICALLY mature and want to have sex, but are not EMOTIONALLY mature enough to understand the risk of pregnancy and STD's.....not to mention that they are not capable of understanding that as they get older they may regret what they did in a moment of youthful passion. They may grow up to feel taken advantage of by the older person and even though they ENJOYED the sex, may feel "dirty" or otherwise have guilt about it.

      An animal is TOTALLY different! They will never grow up and feel guilty for what they did. They seek pleasure for it's own sake without intellectualizing the decision! They will never have regrets or feel they were taken advantage of by their sexual partner....whether human or another animal! They do not worry about whether they will get pregnant (and of course with a human partner it is not even possible). Human STD's cannot be passed to them (and vise-versa).

      That old erroneous *informed consent* crap is why people are so confused and equate sex with a FULLY adult and mature in mind and body animal with that of raping a child. As long as an animal doesn't try to get away or otherwise vocalize or lash out when approached for sex, then THAT IS all the CONSENT that is warranted.....PERIOD! Everyone has the right to their own opinion about this.....but not the right to spread lies and misinformation!

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    • Couman
      10 years ago

      For the sake of argument, what consequences exactly should they be worried about?

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      • dom180
        10 years ago

        Infection, which can occur in cross-species sex. Social isolation, from humans who would be uncomfortable in the presence of the animal. Punishment, which is handed out to the animal in some cultures by humans and may include death. I'm sure I could think of more. The key feature is that these animals cannot comprehend these risks, and cannot consent any more than a severely mentally ill person or a child can.

        There's also the lack of consequences: the fact that there will be no pregnancy. This biological drive is the reason most animals have sex, since they feel no pleasure from it and it has no social meaning for them. I don't think it's a stretch to say that many species can't comprehend sex without the association of pregnancy. You're kind of cheating an animal by having sex with it under terms which it can never understand. I think you can be pretty sure that if that animal could know and understand that the sex would not result in pregnancy, the biological urge would disappear and they wouldn't consent to the sex.

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        • Zetawolf
          10 years ago

          First: Cross species STD infection (zoonotic disease) is EXCEEDINGLY RARE! In fact, just to blow your uneducated mind, THAT is one major reason many zoophiles prefer animal partners.

          Second: Animals don't have sex for pleasure or social reasons? That is one of the most ignorant comments on this subject I think I have ever heard someone say in seriousness. Would it also blow your ignorant mind to know that ALL female mammals have a clitoris? This is the only known mammalian organ which has only one function.....to cause pleasure when stimulated.

          I appreciate your OPINION on this subject.....but next time if you feel the need to espouse that opinion, PLEASE do so using facts and not made up conjecture since you obviously do not spend much time around nor do you have the slightest inkling about what primal drives are a part of EVERY mammal.

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          • Pilar
            3 years ago

            they might be rare because there arent many zoophiles

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        • Couman
          10 years ago

          Not bad! You've clearly put more thought into this than the average person.

          >Infection
          That's certainly the most obvious. I don't suppose you have any information on how big a risk that is. I would be inclined to guess it's lower than for intra-species sex, but I can't back that up.

          >Social isolation
          Eh, I guess. Doesn't seem like a big deal.

          >Punishment
          I never thought of that one. That would be a big concern for any zoophile living in such a culture.

          >lack of consequences
          This is a good point since many other arguments seemingly lead to the (silly) conclusion that we shouldn't let animals mate at all, but this one doesn't.

          I have to dispute a couple of details though:

          >they feel no pleasure from it
          How can you possibly know that? It seems to me fulfilling a "biological urge" is almost synonymous with experiencing pleasure. It's pretty hard to imagine they don't get some sort of positive sensation out of it.

          >it has no social meaning for them.
          This isn't necessarily true. But it's also not necessarily a point for the zoophile team. For instance, dogs (one of the more likely animals for a human to have sex with) do sometimes mount eachother when they're not trying to procreate. Apparently they do it mainly to assert dominance

          That weakens your claim that animals use sex solely as a means to reproduce. But on the other hand, if it means something different for them, there's a real possibility of a sex-based miscommunication

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        • CenturyScientist
          9 years ago

          Your first paragraph was very strong, but I must refute your claim that animals do not feel pleasure during sex. Scientifically speaking, there is no understanding of whether or not other animals feel pleasure or not whilst mating. It has been assumed that most animals don't due to only a select few, including humans, arbitrarily seeking out sex. While most animals don't voluntarily seek out sex for the sake of pleasure, and instead follow hormonal cycles, it is unknown if the intercourse resulting from such cycles is pleasurable or not.

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          • Zetawolf
            9 years ago

            Did you read my reply to Dom180? If so, then you'd have read the part about ALL female mammals possessing a clitoris.....which is the only organ that has ONE function. SEXUAL PLEASURE! If a female animal was incapable of feeling pleasure during sex, then why do they have a clitoris? Pretty logical.....if you have a logical mind. As far as a male feeling pleasure? Well, since it takes an orgasm to ejaculate.....once again logic strikes (;->)

            There is nothing magical or mystical about this nor does it take some sort of "experimental proof"....animals DO feel pleasure from sex and therefore can decide whether to engage in that behavior.

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  • RandomGirl391
    8 years ago

    If you stick your ass in the air to be fucked by it that's consensual.

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  • Zetawolf
    10 years ago

    Yes....at least any mammal CAN give consent to sex with each other AND with humans with exactly like you say....with body language. Animals are not "furry children" and shouldn't be compared to them. As long as they are at the age for their species that they are sexually mature, then they are also emotionally and mentally as mature as they will ever be. They seek out pleasure from sex the same way we do....and WITHOUT all of the inhibitions or "emotional baggage" that humans ascribe to such a basic and primal drive. They do what feels good in the moment with no second guesses or regrets!

    Humans tend to get confused because (especially with pet dogs) they see animals as sexless and defenseless children who need protection. Animals are VERY unlike children who's bodies may respond to sexual stimulation, but who may grow up to have regrets and feelings of betrayal (especially if that sexual experience came from a trusted adult). As I said, a dog will only feel pleasure in the moment and will NEVER grow up and feel betrayed or question if she was "right" to feel that pleasure!

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  • Pilar
    3 years ago

    No. Consent is something you have to verbalize. Animals act by instincts so taking sexual advantage of them is disgusting.

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  • Zetawolf
    9 years ago

    I didn't find it "ranty" at all....but you say in one breath that you believe animals can give consent, and then say basically that like a child they CANNOT because an animal will never be "smart" enough to give informed consent. That is the contradiction. I agree that no matter the evidence that an animal is happily living with their human sexual partner there will be those (likely a majority) who will NEVER believe it is a truly consentual relationship. BUT....this question wasn't about that....the idea that it will be accepted. It was does the poll respondent PERSONALLY believe that an animal is capable of giving consent.

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    • Anonnet
      9 years ago

      Deleted the post since I kept getting paranoid about it, and it was definitely too ranty since I launched off into a somewhat off-topic subject.

      I don't think that's a contradiction because the level of consent they are capable of giving is always open to interpretation.

      To the answer the poll, though, I do think they can give consent.

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