Who compared giving women the vote to giving cows the vote (& in what context)?

Question

I recall hearing (in History class) that when women were campaigning to get the vote, some (powerful?) people suggested that if women were given the right to vote, you might as well give the vote to cows or other animals.

Is this true? If so, who said/implied it? When did they say it? Is there an original source for this?

Answer 1

The only remotely related quote I could find was:

A discussion of the rights of animals would be regarded with far more complacency by many of what are called the wise and the good of our land, than would be a discussion of the rights of woman.

(Frederick Douglass in the North Star, 1848)

It could be that his words were transformed into the statement you heard.