National Laws
| Legality | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Laws are determined at the state and territory level. Illegal in all states and the ACT (the definition of the act is derived from case law and varies for each state) though for 23 years in the Australian Capital Territory between 1988 and 2011 it was not a crime. The status of zoosexuality in Australia's other territories (such as HIMI) is unclear. | |||||||||||||
| Belgium | Legal. However, the spreading of zoophilia pornography is not, according to a court ruling in 2006 against a man who frequently had sex with dogs in a shelter he had worked for. He was acquitted from the charge of animal abuse and was only found guilty of violating public decency by spreading zoophilia pornographic material he had made at the shelter, which he did mainly via his website under the nickname Freki. The Belgian animal rights organisation Gaia, which filed the complaint, appealed unsuccessfully against the court ruling. | |||||||||||||
| Brazil | Legal, as long as no physical harm is made to the animal. | |||||||||||||
| Cambodia | Legal. As of 2005, police released a man suspected of zoophilia activity stating that while unusual, falling in love with a dog is not illegal. | |||||||||||||
| Canada | Illegal. Section 160 forbidding "bestiality". In addition 'Compelling the commission of bestiality' and 'Bestiality in presence of or by child (under the age of 16) are also separate crimes and all of these offenses are subject to imprisonment up to 10 years. | |||||||||||||
| Denmark | Legal. A 2006 bid by the Danish People's Party to outlaw bestiality failed after the a report by the Danish Animal Ethics Council determined that existing laws were sufficient protection against abuse. | |||||||||||||
| Ethiopia | Illegal. "In Ethiopian law bestiality is punishable by law" | |||||||||||||
| Finland | Legal, as long as no physical harm is made to the animal; formerly illegal but made legal in 1971. Trading zoophilia pornography is illegal. | |||||||||||||
| France | Illegal since 2004, upheld by the Court of Cassation. It had been legal since 1791. Before 1791, bestiality was punished by death to the human and animal perpetrators. | |||||||||||||
| Germany | Legal. Sex with animals is not specifically outlawed (but trading pornography showing it is, cf.). In West Germany, the law making it a crime (§175b StGB) was removed in 1969. East Germany before reunification had no law against bestiality; zoophilia pornography, however, was very restricted. Certain barriers are set by the Animal Protection Law (Tierschutzgesetz). The German Bundestag is currently planning to make zoophilia illegal again. The final decision will be made mid-december. If the legislation passes zoophiles will be fined up to 25,000€. | |||||||||||||
| Ghana | Illegal. As of 2006 "Unnatural carnal knowledge" is not permitted under the Ghana criminal code. | |||||||||||||
| Hong Kong | Illegal | |||||||||||||
| Hungary | Legal, as long as no physical harm is made to the animal. | |||||||||||||
| India | Section 377 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) makes it illegal for a person to have sexual contact with an Animal. "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with 1, or with imprisonment of either description for term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine." The punishment is tougher than the punishment for rape, however only penetration is considered under this section. | |||||||||||||
| Japan | Legal, according to Japanese law. | |||||||||||||
| Malaysia | Illegal under Act 574 of the Malaysian Penal Code. Those found guilty of the offense 'buggery with an animal' face a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and shall also be liable to a fine or whipping. The law says penetration is sufficient to constitute carnal intercourse. | |||||||||||||
| Mexico | Legal. (Carl Franz, "The People's Guide to Mexico", 1988. pg. 398) | |||||||||||||
| Namibia | Illegal | |||||||||||||
| Netherlands | Illegal. Committing zoophilia is prohibited by article 254. Maximum imprisonment is one year or a fine of the fourth category (€ 19,500). |
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| New Zealand | Illegal, under a variety of sections contained in the Crimes Act 1961. Section 143, makes "bestiality" an offence, but as in Canada, the meaning of bestiality is derived from case law. There are also associated offences of indecency with an animal (section 144) and compelling an indecent act with an animal (section 142A). It is interesting to note that in the 1989 Crimes Bill considered abolishing bestiality as a criminal offence, and for it to be treated as a mental health issue. In Police v Sheary (1991) 7 CRNZ 107 (HC) Fisher J considered that "he community is generally now more tolerant and understanding of unusual sexual practices that do not harm others." According to the recent New Zealand Book of Lists (2007, p59), however, only one offender apiece are currently serving prison sentences under Sections 142A and 144. | |||||||||||||
| Norway | Illegal. A law was made in November 2008 | |||||||||||||
| Philippines | Legal. In 2010 a Filipino farmer was jailed for raping another person's dog, but this was covered by existing animal cruelty laws (there are no anti-zoophilia laws) | |||||||||||||
| Singapore | Illegal. Penal Code Sexual penetration with living animal
377B. —(1) Any person (A) who — (a) penetrates, with A’s penis, the vagina, anus or any orifice of an animal; or (b) causes or permits A’s vagina, anus or mouth, as the case may be, to be penetrated by the penis of an animal, shall be guilty of an offence. (2) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both. (3) Any person (A) who — (a) causes any man (B) to penetrate, with B’s penis, the vagina, anus or any orifice of an animal; or (b) causes the vagina, anus or mouth, as the case may be, of another person (B) to be penetrated with the penis of an animal, shall be guilty of an offence if B did not consent to the penetration. (4) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (3) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning. |
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| South Africa | Section 13 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 prohibits anal, oral or vaginal penetration of or by an animal, and masturbation of an animal unless performed for scientific or breeding purposes. Before it was codfied by the act, bestiality was a common law offence. | |||||||||||||
| Sweden | Legal. It was formerly illegal, but made legal in 1944. A 2005 report by the Swedish Animal Welfare Agency for the Swedish government expressed strong concerns over the increase in reports of horse-ripping incidents, although noting that "the rise in documented cases did not necessarily mean that there was a de facto increase", and distinguished zoophilia activity from incidents involving physical injury (zoosadism). The Animal Welfare Agency gave as its opinion that current animal cruelty legislation needed updating as it was not sufficiently protecting animals from abuse, but concluded that on balance it was not appropriate to call for a ban. | |||||||||||||
| Switzerland | Illegal. As in Germany, pornography involving animals is illegal. | |||||||||||||
| Thailand | Legal, under Thai law. | |||||||||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago | Illegal | |||||||||||||
| Turkey | Illegal, Animal Rights issue | |||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | Anal and vaginal penetration of or by an animal is illegal, and carries a sentence of up to 2 years imprisonment. Historically an unspecified range of acts were illegal, however the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which followed a major review of all sexual offences in UK law clarified this, removing the ambiguous activities from the scope of the law, and changing the sentence from life imprisonment (which had been criticized as over-harsh) to two years.
Possession of pornography was criminalised in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The law on pornography is broader than that of actual acts: it also covers oral sex; it applies to dead animals as well as living; images are illegal even if they are faked. Thus an image of a legal act may be illegal to possess. The first prosecutions for bestiality pornography occurred in 2009. |
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| United States | Laws are determined at the state level. Many U.S. states explicitly outlaw sex with animals (sometimes under the term of "sodomy" or "unnatural crime against nature"). Others do not.
Many U.S. state laws against sodomy were repealed or struck down by the courts in Lawrence v. Texas, which ruled that perceived moral disapproval on its own was an insufficient justification for banning a private act. On the other hand, the 2004 conviction of a man in Florida (State vs. Mitchell) demonstrated that even in states with no specific laws against zoophilia acts, animal cruelty statutes would instead be applied. Similarly, in 2011 a Shelby, Ohio zoophile who regularly had sex with his dogs was arrested and charged with animal cruelty, even though there are no laws specifically prohibiting bestiality in Ohio. An incident similar to the Shelby incident occurred in Metairie, Louisiana in 2012. Zoosexual activity (bestiality) is officially illegal in 37 states. Zoosexual activity is a misdemeanor in the 20 states listed below:
Zoosexual activity (bestiality) is a felony in the 17 states listed below:
Two states have or had broad statutes which also covered zoophilia that have been challenged successfully in state courts on constitutional grounds: Montana and North Carolina. In North Carolina, the court ruled that the law was not unconstitutional on its face and could be applied constitutionally in some circumstances; the unconstitutionality of its application in that case was wholly unrelated to bestiality. As of 2012 a repeal of the NC law is being considered in the North Carolina Senate. The anti-zoosexual law in Montana has been unenforceable in Montana since 1997. Zoosexual acts are still illegal in Kansas due to a sodomy law. In the District of Columbia, a law against zoophilia (listed under "sodomy") was repealed. Bestiality is a felony in Puerto Rico and is illegal in the U.S. Virgin Islands. *Bestiality is prohibited in Louisiana and North Carolina because of crime against nature laws. |
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| Zambia | Illegal. Penal code Cap 87 Section 115 forbids "Unnatural Offences" including "carnal knowledge of an animal". |
Read more about this topic: Zoophilia And The Law, Laws Against Zoophilia
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