PETA says barnyard brothels 'revolting'
Pastor Dale Morgan
PETA says barnyard brothels 'revolting'*
Worse yet, 1/2 of U.S. states don't have anti-bestiality laws
Posted: September 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
*Editor's note: Parental discretion is advised for this story. It
includes material many will consider offensive.*
Animal bordellos in Denmark, where customers pay for sex with animals,
are "revolting," according to a spokesman for the People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals.
Danish animal owner offers his horse to journalist posing as potential
client
"It takes what's good and decent and is mutilating it," Martin
Mersereau, who manages the group's domestic animal abuse section, said.
But what's really terrifying is that half of the U.S. states don't have
bans on such activity, and when cases arise PETA has to use animal
cruelty bans to pursue them, he said.
Denmark's animal bordellos have been advertising on the 'Net and
reportedly draw customers from as far away as Norway, Germany, Holland
and Sweden who want to pay for sex with horses and other beasts.
Denmark says it isn't illegal there and it won't prosecute as long as no
one – including the animals – is hurt.
Mersereau said just because there's been publicity about such facilities
in Denmark who are "catering to those kinds of sickos," that doesn't
mean those activities aren't happening elsewhere.
"I have a desk full of bestiality cases from both sides of the
Mason-Dixon line," he said.
"The thing we're struggling with here is there's a nudge-nudge,
wink-wink sensibility," he said.
"It's pretty much an eye-opener when you sit in this chair and receive
complaints that a neighbor raped a dog, or broke into a barn," he said.
"The first instinct is moral indignation, and perhaps a little amusement
as a knee-jerk reaction. What it comes down to is an animal has been
exploited."
He said he's convinced that most residents of Denmark, just like most in
the U.S., are appalled by such activities.
But of higher concern than just the reaction are the studies that show
links between abusive behavior toward animals and abusive behavior
toward other people.
"The link between cruelty to animals and cruelty to other people is
well-established," he said, noting one recent study concluded 96 percent
of offenders who engaged in bestiality also admitted to sexual assaults
on people.
And he said in the U.S., there needs to be some injury evident for a
successful prosecution on animal cruelty counts. The bottom line is no
injury, no case, in many circumstances.
PETA notes on its website that will take a collective effort to crack
down on bestiality.
"We encourage everyone to take action against this very violent crime,"
the group's website said. "If you encounter a website with offensive
content depicting acts of bestiality, please report the site to its
server or host; you may well meet with support and succeed in having the
offending site removed."
Other tips about issues involving cruelty to animals, according to PETA,
are at HelpingAnimals.com.
Reports from Europe said people are paying $85-$170 for some animal action.