Zoophilia and the law

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Zoophilia and the law looks at the laws governing humans performing sex acts on animals. Laws against humans performing sex acts on animals, where they exist, are concerned with the actual act, which it commonly refers to as bestiality, rather than the sexual attraction to animals. For this reason, prohibitions of zoophilic pornography are more varied; they may be unlawful if an actual sex act with an animal is involved, but the status is not clear-cut if there is a mere representation, such as a painting or cartoon. In that case, normal obscenity laws will normally apply. All zoophilic imagery is widely regarded as pornography.

Objectives

The practice of humans having sex with animals sometimes involves animal cruelty or animal abuse, sometimes called zoosadism. However, not all sexual activity with animals involves cruelty.

Recent legislation

For centuries, sexual acts on animals were illegal under sodomy laws or "crime against nature" laws. Since the 1950s most sodomy laws have been repealed and in some places specific anti-bestiality laws have been enacted.

Bestiality was outlawed in Norway in 2008,^[1] The Netherlands in 2010,^[2] Australian Capital Territory in 2011,^[3] Sweden in 2013, ^[4] and Denmark in 2015.^[5]

In the U.S., as of 2012, bestiality is illegal in 37 states. Most state bestiality laws were enacted between 1999 and 2012.^[6] Laws were enacted in Pennsylvania in 1999,^[7] Iowa in 2001,^[8] Illinois in 2002,^[9] Maryland in 2002,^[10] Washington in 2006,^[11] Arizona in 2006,^[12] Indiana in 2007,^[13] Tennessee in 2007,^[14] Colorado in 2007,^[15] Alaska in 2010,^[16] and Florida in 2011.^[17] Laws which prohibit non-abusive bestiality have been criticized for being discriminatory, unjust and unconstitutional.^[18][19]

Background

International differences

Some jurisdictions list laws very clearly, such as England and Wales, which specifically prohibits penetration of a human being by the penis of an animal, and penetration of an animal by a human's penis.^[20]

By contrast, many countries and US states are less precise about the scope of law in that they outlaw sex with animals, without defining what constitutes "sex".

Even if bestiality is not explicitly prohibited, there are often many other laws which can be used to effectively prosecute cases. For example, most countries have animal cruelty laws, and a prosecutor will argue that all zoophilia activity is animal abuse.^[21] In some U.S. states, a person who engages in bestiality can be charged with animal cruelty.^[22]

Prohibitions without specific bestiality statutes

Some countries have a range of laws on their books. Sometimes sodomy laws or "crime against nature" laws are used to prosecute people who have sex with animals.

In the case of Kenneth Pinyan, who died from injuries sustained from receiving anal sex from a horse, local law enforcement found that there were no laws that allowed them to prosecute his friend, who had filmed the event and also allowed himself to be sodomized by the horse. The friend was prosecuted for trespassing. That case prompted the Washington State legislature to draw up legislation outlawing sex with animals.^[23]

In a 2005 Florida case, a man who had sex with his dog was charged with disorderly conduct, since the state had no anti-bestiality laws on the books at the time.^[24] On October 1, 2011 the state of Florida State Law 828.126, F.S went into effect, banning sex with animals.^[25]

Laws against zoophilia

Aggrawal has discussed extensively on laws against zoophilia.^[26] It is permitted in a few countries although ordinary animal treatment laws apply.

There are also commonly laws against forcing another person to engage in zoophilia activity, especially minors (usually considered equivalent to rape), and laws related to exposing others (either non-consensually or minors) to the sight of a sexual act. In some jurisdictions, laws against zoophilia conduct also include provisions for seizure of animals where convicted.

Exceptions

Sexual handling of an animal for the purposes of veterinary practice, or animal husbandry (breeding), is normally exempted where such laws exist. In public discussion for the recently passed Oregon law, however, one animal shelter's spokesperson wanted the husbandry exemption kept out, as he was concerned that someone might use these "accepted farming practices" as a legal loophole to then have (legal) sexual contact with an animal only for personal enjoyment. One of the legislators responded by asking if they were trying to outlaw an act (of sexual contact), or a state of mind. The veterinary and husbandry exemption was left out of Oregon's law in the final, enacted version.

Zoophilic pornography

The legality of pornography has three components: legality of production, legality of sale and transportation, and legality of ownership. In general, animal pornography is legal to produce where both zoophilic activity and the creation of pornography in general are legal. Laws concerning sale, transmission and ownership vary more widely.

Erotic art, such as animal pornography in cartoons and the like, which does not require the recording of an actual sexual act, are not usually considered sex with animals by the law, and so their status depends upon more general laws such as legal limits upon obscenity or pornography alone, and the thin line between erotic art and pornography.

National laws

Country or territory	Zoosexual activity	Sale and distribution of zoophilic pornography	Ownership of zoophilic pornography
Australia	Illegal (Penalty varies by state/territory)[27]	Illegal[28]
Belgium	Illegal since 2007 (penalty: up to 6 months in prison and a fine of 1.000 € maximum)[29]
Brazil	Legal[30][31] since 1830 (via repeal of sodomy laws)	Legal, never criminalized[31][32]	Legal, never criminalized
Cambodia	Legal[33]
Canada	Illegal (Penalty: Maximum of 10 years in prison)[34]
Denmark	Illegal since 2015[35]	Legal	Legal
Ecuador	Illegal (Penalty: Maximum of 8 years in prison)[36]
Ethiopia	Illegal (Penalty: Imprisonment (no length given)[37]
Finland	Legal since 1971[38]	Illegal[39]
France	Illegal since 2004 (Penalty: Maximum of 2 years in prison and €30,000 fine)[40]
Germany	Illegal since 2013 (penalty: fine of 25.000 € maximum)[41]	Illegal (Penalty: Fine or maximum of 3 years in prison)[42]	Legal (as long as it is not owned with intention of publicizing, sharing or selling)[43]
Ghana	Illegal (Penalty: Maximum of 3 years in prison)[44]
Hong Kong	Illegal (Penalty: Maximum of 10 years in prison and $50,000 fine)[45]
Hungary	Illegal (Penalty: Fine of 50000 Ft Maximum)
Ireland	Illegal (Penalty: Maximum of life in prison)[46]
India	Illegal[47]
Iran	Illegal (Penalty: First three convictions are punished by ta'zir as determined by a judge Fourth offense is the death penalty)[48]
Malaysia	Illegal (Penalty: Maximum of 20 years in prison, fines, and whipping)[49]
Mexico	Legal
Namibia	Illegal[50]
Netherlands	Illegal since 2010 (Penalty: Maximum of 1 year in prison and €19,500 fine)[51]	Illegal since 2010 (Penalty: Maximum imprisonment 6 months or a fine of the third category (€7,800))[52]	Illegal since 2010 (Penalty: Maximum imprisonment 6 months or a fine of the third category (€7,800))
New Zealand	Illegal (Penalty: Maximum of 7 years in prison Maximum of 3 years in prison)[53][54]	Illegal	Illegal
Norway	Illegal since 2008[55]
Philippines	Illegal[56]
Poland	Illegal since 1997. Defined as a type of animal abuse. (Penalty: Maximum 3 years in prison, donation to animal welfare charity and prohibition of owning an animal for up to 10 years. If done in order to distribute or sell the penalty is increased to a minimum of 6 months and maximum of 8 years in prison)[57]	Illegal (Penalty: minimum of 6 months and maximum 8 years in prison)[58]	Legal (as long as it is not owned with intention of publicizing, sharing or selling)
Portugal	Illegal[59]
Romania	Legal[60]	Ambiguous (Law only mentions a ban on "sites with [...] zoophilic content", which are to be blocked by ISPs at the request of the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications)[61]	Legal[62]
Singapore	Illegal (Penalty: Maximum of 2 years in prison and fine)[63]
South Africa	Illegal (Penalty: determined by judge)[64]	Illegal (Penalty: maximum 5 years in prison and R200,000 fine)[65]
Sweden	Illegal since 2014 (Penalty : fine, prison up to 2 years, or both)[66]
Switzerland	Illegal[67]	Illegal[68]	Illegal
Thailand	Legal[69] No law mentions zoophilia.	Zoophilic pornography falls within the definition of pornography. Distribution of any pornography is illegal.
Trinidad and Tobago	Illegal[70]
Turkey	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
United Kingdom	Illegal since 1290 (Penalty: Maximum of 2 years in prison for conviction on indictment Maximum of 6 months in prison and a fine for summary conviction) Intercourse with an animal (see Sexual Offences Act 2003[20])	Illegal since 2008[71] (see Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008)	Illegal since 2008 (see Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008)
United States Main article: Zoophilia and the law in the United States	/ Varies by state, territory, or district.	/ Varies by state, territory, or district.	/ Varies by state, territory, or district.
Zambia	Illegal (Penalty: Maximum of 5 years in prison)[72]

History

Mentions in the press

• "Freddie the Dolphin" (1991, UK) - man accused of masturbating a well known tame dolphin at sea. Charged with a "lewd act". Acquitted. Expert witnesses testified male dolphins use their erections not just sexually, but socially as well, and no sexual inference could be drawn. Judge summing up said of the £30,000 trial cost, "this has been the most expensive lesson in dolphin sociology that he has ever heard of".^[73]
• Kenneth Pinyan (2005, USA) - man died following anal penetration by a stallion, which was filmed by his friend. The death led to rapid introduction of laws in Washington state against sex with animals.^[6]
• Sudan (February 2006) - man caught having sex with a neighbour's goat, is ordered by the council of elders to pay the neighbour a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) and marry the animal.^[74]
• Cambodia (2005) - man caught having a "passionate embrace" in bed with dog, by wife, confessed he loved the dog more and they separated. Cambodian police commented: "As police, we could only solve the problem of his wife then wanting a divorce. We cannot solve the problem of his relationship with his dog, because under Cambodian law it is not strictly illegal... It is amazing, but this husband is not crazy. It seems he is a passionate human being who looked at a dog, and the more he looked, the more passionate he became."^[33]
• Wisconsin, USA (2007) - Bryan James Hathaway was convicted for having sex with a dead deer. The court case raised some interesting legal issues because the statute prohibits sex with animals, but not carcasses. The defence raised the issue that if a dead animal was an animal, at what point would it cease to be an animal.^[75]
• Kansas, USA (2012) - Joshua Coman was convicted in Kansas of criminal sodomy (a misdemeanor), but the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that he did not have to register as a sex offender.^[76][77]
• Vancouver, Canada (2012) - Brian Cutteridge, bestiality proponent, was arrested after the SPCA claims to have a video of him engaging in sex with one of his dogs.^[78]
• Arizona, USA (2012) - Sarah Dae Walker and her husband pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bestiality in a case where Craigslist was used.^[79]
• David Cameron (2015, UK) - David Cameron allegedly put "a private part of his anatomy" in a dead pig's mouth as part of an initiation ceremony to a mens-only dining club at the University of Oxford. It has been referred to as Piggate.

See also

• Animal trial
• Human–animal marriage
• Legal status of internet pornography
• Sexual norm
• Social norm
• Sodomy law
• Sudanese goat marriage incident
• Zoophilia

Notes