This invention relates to a system for penetrating the uterus of an animal during a non-surgical procudure, the uterus having a cervix leading to a uterus body. The system comprises a probe having a long tubular body with a central longitudinal axis, open forward and rearward ends, and a probing member projecting forward and laterally outward beyond the forward end of the probe body. The probe is inserted, forward end first, inside the cervix of said animal, and the probe body is manipulated to gently maneuver the probing member in a forward direction through the cervix to a position in which the probing member and the forward open end of the probe body are adjacent the body of the uterus.