Denmark is planning to ban bestiality, or sex with animals, after pressure from its European neighbours and animal welfare groups.
Denmark is one of the last European countries to ban the practice, and it has lead to a rise in the number of zoophiles travelling to the country as part of an underground animal sex trade.
Dan Jørgensen, Danish minister for food and agriculture, plans to add an amendment to the country’s Animal Welfare Act next year to ban sex with animals. He explained his decision to Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet:
“I have decided that we should ban sex with animals. That is happening for numerous reasons. The most important is that in the vast majority of cases it is an attack against the animals. And under all circumstances, any doubts about it should go to the animals’ benefit. They naturally cannot say no to going along with it. Therefore, it should be banned”
A recent Gallup poll revealed that 76 percent of Danes supported the ban on bestiality, however the Danish Animal Ethics Council (Det Dyreetiske Råd) says that there is no need for an amendment as the current laws already protect animals against “unnecessary suffering”. Thr group goes on to claim that legislating against bestiality would make it difficult for the law to distinguish between sex with animals for pleasure and the practice of inseminating animals in agriculture.
A recent VICE documentary highlighted the practice of bestiality, interviewing zoophiles who argued that they were not harming the animals they use for sex.
