Alaska and Florida Move to Ban Bestiality

Shocking cases spur legislators to protect Fido
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 21, 2009 12:18 PM CDT
Alaska and Florida Move to Ban Bestiality
Raping a dog isn't explicitly illegal in 15 states.   (Shutterstock)

When a man in Klawock, Alaska, was spotted luring a Labrador into the woods, where he allegedly tied it to a tree and had sex with it, the authorities didn’t have much to charge him with. The DA settled on criminal mischief and theft. But that case, and others like it, have spurred lawmakers in Alaska and Florida—two of the 15 states where bestiality isn’t explicitly illegal—into action.

“There’s quite a number of cases,” said one Florida senator. “This one is, unfortunately, a man having sex with his guide dog. This is about a goat's death. … Unfortunately it's not an isolated incident.” Alaska is considering adding sexual acts to the state’s animal cruelty laws, making it a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail, while two Florida Senate committees have unanimously approved a bill allowing a 5-year sentence. (More Florida stories.)

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