If no harm is caused to the animal: Spain moves to legalize zoophilia

Ione Belarra. Photo: lenta.ru

A new animal-protection law proposed by Spain’s Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, was approved by the Congress on February 9, 2023, reports libertaddigital.com.

Zoophilia – that is, sexual acts with animals – which until now had been treated as a criminal offense, is no longer classified as such under the reform of the Criminal Code on animal abuse, provided that no harm is caused to the animal.

In 2015, the Congress approved a reform of the Criminal Code aimed at strengthening penalties for cruelty to animals and, for the first time in Spain’s history, for sexual exploitation of animals.

As the publication notes, at that time it was understood that animals, like children, are incapable of giving consent, and therefore bestiality was classified as a new crime involving the sexual exploitation of animals, regardless of the severity of harm inflicted.

From now on, it will be punishable only if it causes an injury to the animal that requires veterinary treatment.

“It is astonishing that this comes precisely from the United We Can party, which had previously insisted that dogs, cats, and other animals should be regarded as sentient beings,” the outlet concludes.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Spain simplified the legal process for gender change and expanded access to abortion from age 16.

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