KC comes first worldwide in the storage and transportation of dog semen [yes, really]

Art by Teddy Rosen

There is a river of animal semen that runs right through the middle of the Kansas City region. This is because KC is part of the Animal Health Corridor—an official designation that reflects our concentration of animal health companies. Officially, the corridor runs from Manhattan, Kansas to Columbia, Missouri, and boasts “56% of total worldwide animal health, diagnostics, and pet food sales.”

Companies like Zoetis perform research and development for animals, care and feeding, and product development. This also includes storing semen from all animals and shipping it to customers who need to expand the health of horses, pigs, cattle, and our pets.

The science behind breeding is well established but the process can seem verboten to those outside the industry. However, this is a billion-dollar industry that has far-reaching consequences.

There was no better place to get to the nuts and bolts of how specialized breeding works than at a dog show. A show hosted by Onfrio Dog Shows, LLC was recently held in Lawrence, Kansas. Dog shows are its own unique world. Held at the Douglass County Fairgrounds under their main pavilion, all the dog breeds are grouped together as they wait for their event. Not because they have to be, but because they have formed a community over the years.

Owners and their breeds came as far away as Ontario and Florida to the show. Many arrive in RVs, vans, and cars, touring the country showing their dogs. Prize money is not the point for many, but to get a champion designation. That allows them to breed their dogs for more money.

Walking in, five toy poodles were placed on stands and getting their hair treatment like it was a doggy spa. The giant poodles may have hair extensions placed by professional groomers. And a pack of Dobermans sat calmly watching it all. An Alaskan malamute looked like it wanted a hug or to chase you down. Coming up to a person’s chest, this massive breed’s fluffy white coat was constantly being brushed.

Above all, this was the place to ask questions about breeding that may seem uncouth in any other environment. It’s also the place to hear the best stories.

“Once, there was a mix-up with the semen,” said one attendant I spoke to who was showing her Dogue de Bordeaux—a massive French mastiff that looks like a boulder with a volleyball size of a wrinkled head. “And a great dane bitch was inseminated with beagle semen. What came out was a big dog with a small head. There were tons of lawsuits!”

It all begins with what is known as a stud book—the official pedigree of an animal that can trace its lineage back generations. The oldest stud book is about horses and dates back to 1771. Once the pedigree is established, it’s time to extract the semen.

Sometimes it’s as simple as putting a male and female dog together in the same room. Other times, it’s a bit more complicated, especially if the female is a thousand miles away.

“Manual stimulation is the way I do it,” said Kathy Rasmussen of KCK9 Reproductions. She has been breeding dogs for thirty years and founded her business with Dr. Bruce Chambers in 2007. She claims she has around a 92% success rate with impregnation. Sometimes, she uses what is referred to as a ‘teaser bitch’. This is a female dog that entices a reluctant male dog. “It gets his confidence up, and you get more of a sample,” she explained.

Manual stimulation isn’t the only way, of course. There are canine collection kits that come with a plastic bag funnel or cups. There are also cylinder collection tubes with a semen collection tip. What you are picturing in your head is exactly what it is.

From there, the sperm can be artificially introduced to the female if they are nearby using a pipette or other devices. If not, the semen needs to be frozen, and this is where the science truly kicks in. To prolong the life of the semen, prior to freezing, it’s treated. Kathy’s process is proprietary so she won’t go into detail, but, in general, semen extenders are added. Common additions can be animal sources, egg yolk, skimmed milk, or plant sources, such as soybean lecithin. Whatever the case, this allows the sperm to stay viable once it is frozen.

The semen is stored in one of two ways—a straw or a pellet.

“Imagine a straw for a juice box and you’ve got it,” Kathy said.

The pellet looks like a BB and is frozen until it’s ready to shoot its shot, so to speak. These frozen samples can be stored indefinitely in cryogenic facilities until the time it’s needed. Currently, Kathy has around 4,500 semen samples ready to go for clients.

The truly tricky part is the artificial insemination, which remains the most uncomfortable question I’ve ever asked: “How do you inseminate a bitch with frozen semen?”

Kathy explained that while fresh semen can be introduced into the female, defrosted sperm cannot. It lacks the mobility of fresh sperm, and the results are more haphazard. Once the semen is thawed, the female dog has a small surgery where the sperm is implanted into the fallopian tubes. This is done by a veterinary clinic that offers those services, and there are plenty here in Kansas City.

Kathy has shipped all over the world, and to her, it’s a normal process. She works with Kansas State University which offers vapor shipping for animal semen. This process uses liquid nitrogen vapors to keep samples frozen for up to two weeks. Kathy then ships that package wherever it needs to go.

This is how semen is transported through Kansas City to the rest of the world, and it all starts with our animal health corridor.