Ohio Is Making Bestiality Illegal, Which Means It Was Legal, Like, Yesterday
I don't really know how to say this... but bestiality is, like, a thing. Fortunately for Ohio creatures, the state is cracking down and making bestiality illegal.
Thanks to efforts made by national animals rights activists, Ohio Legislature recently prohibited "the sex abuse of animals and the selling of animals for sex," Huffington Post reports.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich now has a deadline of 10 days to approve or reject the measure.
Animal Cruelty Policy Director Leighann Lassiter explained that there are animal "sex rings," in which people actually train animals to have sex. She told the Guardian the law is "a great victory for the animals of Ohio," adding, "It is a very, very seedy world."
This particular bill was at risk when GOP legislators almost brought it to a halt at the last minute.
According to Dayton Daily News, the ban on sex with animals was part of a greater Republican lawmaker's package including laws about bans on cities increasing the minimum wage and being able to stop telecom companies from installing wireless antennas.
Fortunately, even though 40 legislators voted against the package, it was passed anyway.
In the aftermath of an incident involving a man performing two separate sexual acts on dogs, Warren, Ohio, became the first Ohio town to outlaw bestiality.
No person shall knowingly engage in sexual conduct with an animal; knowingly possess, sell or purchase an animal with the intent that it be subjected to sexual conduct, or knowingly organize, promote, aide or abet in the conduct of an act involving any sexual conduct with an animal.
When Warren city officials were voting on the law, City Councilwoman Helen Rucker objected to allowing the public to comment on the law, saying, "I think council is prepared to vote without bringing undue attention to the issue. Bestiality is not an epidemic in our city."
In addition to Ohio, Gov. Chris Christie banned bestiality in New Jersey last year, and in June, New Hampshire prohibited sexual assault on animals as well.
However, bestiality is unfortunately still legal in the nine states of Vermont, Texas, West Virginia, Kentucky, Nevada, Hawaii, Wyoming, New Mexico and Washington, D.C. Yikes.
