Bestiality was legal in Sweden Until Now
Sweden will next year introduce a total ban on bestiality, which until now has only been illegal if cruelty to the animal could be proven, the government said Thursday.
"The government is now tightening the rules surrounding bestiality so there will be no doubt about the fact that it is prohibited to inflict suffering on animals," Minister for Rural Affairs Eskil Erlandsson said in a statement.
"There should be no doubt that bestiality is unacceptable."
Until now, bestiality was illegal in Sweden only if it could be proven that the animal had subjected to suffering.
From January 1, any sexual act with an animal will be punishable by a fine, a maximum prison sentence of two years, or both, even if the animal shows no sign of injury or suffering.
"It's very good that the law will be changed," a spokesman for the Swedish Federation of Veterinarians, Johan Beck-Friis, told AFP.
"It's very important that society makes a clear statement that it is unacceptable to use animals that way," he said.
The ban will bring Sweden in line with a European Union directive.
Germany introduced a ban in December, following in the footsteps of Britain, France, and Switzerland among others.
The Swedish parliament is expected to pass the bill into law soon, as there is broad political consensus on the issue.
According to Beck-Friis, under the current law veterinarians may suspect that an animal has been sexually abused but they are generally unable to prove it.
As a result, there are no statistics available on how common bestiality is in the country.
In 2006, the latest year for which statistics are available, about 100 cases of animals suffering injuries suspected of being related to bestiality were brought to the authorities' attention, Beck-Friis said.
Has that put your mind at rest? :D
did I read it right?
"Any of the times I did anything with her she was the one who backed into me and provoked it. She was in heat and made herself available. There were also times later when she didn't want to and then I backed out immediately," he told Expressen.
Wow,, This man could be a lawyer
That's really weird and making me sick
So I rest my case. I high profile bestiality case has come up and hence the calls for the law.
For Miss Mimi ..
http://www.thelocal.se/15610/20081111/
Normal humans don't do those things. And very very few abnormal humans do them as well. My guess is there is obviously a high profile bestiality case going on in Sweden and that's why there's now a need for the law. Obviously there was no such cases before, so there was no need for the law.
I'm taking my Wellies and moving to NewZealand :O(
MM ,,, Maybe that's because we don't expect the normal humans to do such a thing (cannibalism,Bestiality ) , and taking this topic is a serious way shows that something happened !
Bestiality is quite rare, and difficult to prove without injury to the animal. It's actually technically "legal" in many places, just like cannibalism is technically "legal" in many places. The thing with Western law is that in order to create a new law there has to be a precedent. So Just like cannibalism didn't become illegal in Germany until that weird dude ate his boyfriend 5 years ago, obviously there was no need for a bestiality law in Sweden till now.
Sulie, maybe so....
NM ,,Seems they've started recently to notice a man-animal couples :)
As I said, until now there was most likely no reason to make something that commonly understood a law...maybe somehow things have changed...
Yes should be criminalized together with minor/sham marriages as it's not only horrible act but also nasty thing to do hurting a another weak being.
...lets just say the sweedish love to do things the different way...and with the animals there are no chances for complains or compensation
???????....No comments....I must admit that there are many things about human psyche which I don't understand....but nobody has got a right to hurt anyone else...human or animal.
I guess such a law was not needed until now.
Doesn't take a bright spark to know that bestiality is truly a cruel act of abuse and invasion of beings that have no ability to communicate their suffering. Ah well..better late than never. Good to see the move finally coming into place!
"There should be no doubt that bestiality is unacceptable."
Wow,, that was brilliant :)
We were waiting him to say it ,, where have you been Mr.Eskil Erlandsson
And now you tell us :O(