Bestiality

For other uses, see Bestiality (disambiguation).

"Bestiality" redirects here. For other uses, see Bestiality (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Zoophily.

Bestiality is the act of a human being engaging in sexual relations with an animal. In addition to being repulsive and being a sexual taboo in societies, bestiality can cause harm to both animals and humans.

In most countries, bestiality is illegal under animal abuse laws or laws dealing with crimes against nature.

Terminology

The legal term bestiality has two common pronunciations: "ˌbɛs'tiæ'lə'ti" or "ˌbis'tiæ'lə'ti", the latter being more prevalent in the United States. "Zoophilia" is a term used by apologists for bestiality.

Religious perspectives

Passages in Leviticus 18 (Lev 18:23: "And you shall not lie with any beast and defile yourself with it, neither shall any woman give herself to a beast to lie with it: it is a perversion." RSV) and 20:15–16 ("If a man lies with a beast, he shall be put to death; and you shall kill the beast. If a woman approaches any beast and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the beast; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them." RSV) are cited by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theologians as categorical denunciation of bestiality. However, the teachings of the New Testament have been interpreted by some as not expressly forbidding bestiality.

In Part II of his Summa Theologica, medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas ranked various "unnatural vices" (sex acts resulting in "venereal pleasure" rather than procreation) by degrees of sinfulness, concluding that "the most grievous is the sin of bestiality." Some Christian theologians extend Matthew's view that even having thoughts of adultery is sinful to imply that thoughts of committing bestial acts are likewise sinful.

Legal status

Main article: Zoophilia and the law

In many jurisdictions, all forms of zoophilic acts are prohibited; others outlaw only the mistreatment of animals, without specific mention of sexual activity. In the UK, Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (also known as the Extreme Pornography Act) outlaws images of a person performing or appearing to perform an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal (whether dead or alive). Despite the Ministry of Justice's explanatory note on extreme images saying "It is not a question of the intentions of those who produced the image. Nor is it a question of the sexual arousal of the defendant", "it could be argued that a person might possess such an image for the purposes of satire, political commentary or simple grossness," according to The Independent. Countries such as Belgium and Sweden are somewhere in between: they permit sexual activity with animals, but prohibit the promotion of animal-oriented pornography.

Many new laws banning sex with animals have been made recently, such as in New Hampshire, Ohio, Germany, Sweden, Denmark,Thailand, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Guatemala. The number of jurisdictions around the world banning it has grown in the 2000s and 2010s.

Some countries once had laws against single males living with female animals, such as Alpacas. Copulating with a female alpaca is still specifically against the law in Peru.

As of 2017, bestiality is illegal in 42 U.S. states. Most state bestiality laws were enacted between 1999 and 2017. Until 2005, there was a farm near Enumclaw, Washington that was described as an “animal brothel”, where people paid to have sex with animals. After an incident on 2 July 2005, when a man was pronounced dead in the emergency room of the Enumclaw community hospital after his colon ruptured due to having been sodomized by a horse, the farm garnered police attention. The state legislature of the State of Washington, which had been one of the few states in the United States without a law against bestiality, within six months passed a bill making bestiality illegal. Arizona, Alaska, Florida, Alabama, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Ohio have banned sex with animals between 2006 and the present. When such laws are proposed, they are never questioned or debated.

Pornography

Pornography involving sex with animals is widely illegal, even in most countries where bestiality itself is not explicitly outlawed.

In the United States, bestial pornography would be considered obscene if it did not meet the standards of the Miller Test and therefore is not openly sold, mailed, distributed or imported across state boundaries or within states which prohibit it. Under U.S. law, 'distribution' includes transmission across the Internet. Production and mere possession appear to be legal, however. U.S. prohibitions on distribution of sexual or obscene materials are as of 2005 in some doubt, having been ruled unconstitutional in United States v. Extreme Associates (a judgement which was overturned on appeal, December 2005).

Similar restrictions apply in Germany (see above). In New Zealand the possession, making or distribution of material promoting bestiality is illegal.

In the UK Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 criminalises possession of realistic pornographic images depicting sex with animals, including fake images and simulated acts, as well as images depicting sex with dead animals, where no crime has taken place in the production. The law provides for sentences of up to two years in prison; a sentence of 12 months was handed down in one case in 2011.

Health and safety

Infections that are transmitted from animals to humans are called zoonoses. Some zoonoses may be transferred through casual contact, but others are much more readily transferred by activities that expose humans to the vital fluids of animals. Examples of zoonoses are Brucellosis, Q fever, leptospirosis, and toxocariasis. Therefore, bestiality is a high risk activity. Allergic reactions to fluids may occur, including anaphylaxis. Bites or trampling and other trauma may occur.

See also

Human/nonhuman interaction	Semen collection from male animals Semen collection from bulls Semen collection from male dogs Anthrozoology Animal loss Exogamy Human–animal bonding Sexual imprinting Animal marriage
Animal studies	Non-human animal sexuality Non-reproductive sexual behavior in animals Animal cognition Animal communication Bonding in mammals
Human sexuality	Species dysphoria Fur fetishism Bestiality in ancient Rome Sexual norm Sodomy Paraphilia

Ethics, morality and philosophy	Wisdom of repugnance Argument from incredulity Anthropocentrism Human exceptionalism Religion and sexuality Zoophile rights by country or territory Great Ape personhood
Animal welfare	Animal welfare Animal abuse Animal rights

 

External links

• Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality entry for "Bestiality" at Sexology Department of Humboldt University, Berlin.
• Zoophilia References Database Bestiality and zoosadism criminal executions.
• Animal Abuse Crime Database search form for the U.S. and UK.