Ohio Senate Approves Anti-Bestiality Bill

The year is 2016 and unknown to me and many others — bestiality is not outlawed in the great state of Ohio. Thanks to a bill being pushed through the Ohio Senate, we’re finally on the road to making bestiality illegal, and by doing so removing ourselves from a list of 10 other states who still are waiting for something? We’re not sure, this one seems like an easy win honestly.

While this news may seem like a home run to most there is one caveat — it still needs to pass in the Ohio House of Representatives within the next week.

Bestiality strangely is in a grey area in regards to animal abuse. Sen. Jay Hottinger has said it can lead to similar behavior towards children and other at-risk populations, According to NBC4i . Yet, most laws in the United States have adopted legislation on top of already existing Sodomy laws and prosecute in regards to that, this is because there is no federal law restricting beastiality, it is down to the individual states to make those decisions.

The bill prohibits sexual behavior towards animals, but it also allows for the seizure of pets that are sexually abused, and submits the perpetrator to mandatory psychological counseling. As of November 2016, sex with animals is illegal in 41 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The first documented law passed in the United States or our territories was in actually in Puerto Rico, in 1493. So yeah, we’re about…620 years late to the game here.

As for the other states? Alabama, California, Washington D.C., Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming do not have distinct legislation in regards to “Zoophilia” or “Beastiality.”

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