Everything you really didn’t want to know about bestiality

CONTENT ADVISORY

The news that a man had been captured on surveillance video having sex with a horse at a North Okanagan equestrian centre is as astonishing as it is absurd, and clearly disturbing.

The suspect has now been arrested, and while such acts aren’t common, they do happen.

iNFOnews.ca had a brief look into the behaviour, so you don’t have to.

Has bestiality always been a thing?

Yes, according to British historian and academic Joanna Bourke, cave paintings depict humans having sex with animals. In her essay, Bestiality, Zoophilia and Human–Animal Sexual Interactions, she points out references in the Old Testament, one of which says that humans ‘defile’ themselves if they ‘lie with any beast.’ In England in 1533, the Buggery Act deemed ‘bestial’ acts as punishable by death.

How common is it?

It’s rare, but it does happen. A 2018 report from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection found that between 2011 and 2016, there were 103 reported incidents of bestiality. Of the cases, 38 were criminally charged, with 41 adults and six youth charged. All 38 cases involved a male offender and eight cases also involved a female offender. However, the report states that, much like all sexual offences, it is presumed that the issue is severely underreported. The report found that 89% of cases involved another person, while 57% involved penetration. 

What animals are involved?

The vast majority of cases (89%) involved the family dog. Horses were involved in two of the cases.

Is there a connection between bestiality and child abuse?

Yes. The Canadian Centre for Child Protection report found that in 31 out of 38 cases (82%), also involved the sexual abuse of a child. In almost 70% of the cases, the perpetrator was in a position of trust over the child. However, as animal victims cannot report their abuse to police or animal welfare authorities, the cases reported all involved some human element.

Not all cases involve children

Last May, in connection with a drug investigation, Kingston police uncovered a video of sexual acts involving a couple’s dog. The couple were both charged with bestiality and animal abuse. In 2024, a well-renowned Australian Zoologist was sentenced to 10 years in jail for bestiality and animal abuse in a case described by the judge as “grotesque.” Closer to home, last November, a Merritt man in his late 20s was given 12 months’ house arrest after pleading guilty to bestiality.

What’s the law today?

Laws about buggery date back to the beginning of the Canadian Criminal Code, but the word “bestiality” first appeared in 1954 and remained unchanged until 1985. In 2016, the Supreme Court defined bestiality as “penile penetration of the vagina or anus by a person or animal.” The narrow definition spurred a change in the law to include sexual contact between a human and an animal.

What’s being done about it?

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection report was at the forefront in shining a light on the topic, which it said had been “largely hidden in the shadows.”