On this episode of Animal Amicus, hosts Senior Policy Program Manager Nicole Pallotta and Managing Attorney David Rosengard discuss how the laws against bestiality have evolved throughout history, how bestiality is distinct from other animal cruelty laws, and recent court cases that have also tackled these questions.   

Resources referenced in this episode along with additional relevant articles are listed below:  

• Animal Legal & Historical Center: Table of State Animal Sexual Assault Laws  
• North Carolina Law Review: The Law of Crime Against Nature by James R. Spence  
• UNC School of Government: The Legal Status of Bestiality by Jeffrey B. Welty  
• MDPI: Bestiality Law in the United States: Evolving Legislation with Scientific Limitations by Brian James Holoyda  
• Animal Legal & Historical Center: Detailed Discussion of Dog Fighting by Hanna Gibson  
• Wiley Online Library: Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by A.C. Kinsey et al.  
• The Physiological Society: Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female by A.C. Kinsey et al.  
• Gender and Sexuality in Critical Animal Studies by Amber E. George  
• Research Gate: Zoophilia and the Law: Legal Responses to a Rare Paraphilia by Brian Holoyda and William Newman  
• ZETA-VEREIN: ZETA Principles  
• American Psychiatric Association: Paraphilic Disorders  
• Newsweek: How Common Is Sex Between Different Species? That Monkey and Deer Are Not Alone by Kristin Hugo  
• Oyez: Lawrence v. Texas, 539 US 558 (2003)  
• Penn State Dickinson Law: The Future of Justice Scalia’s Predictions of Family Law Doom by Robert E. Rains  
• Animal Legal Defense Fund: Virginia Court of Appeals Upholds Bestiality Law by Nicole Pallotta  
• The University of the Pacific Law Review: Chapter 86: Nevada Finally Outlaws Bestiality by Emily Malhiot  

• Oyez: United States v. Stevens, 559 US 460 (2010)  
• The First Amendment Encyclopedia: Miller Test by David L. Hudson Jr.  
• Oyez: New York v. Ferber, 458 US 747 (1982)  
• Animal Legal Defense Fund: Fifth Circuit Rules that Animal Crush Video Law Prohibits Obscenity and Congress Has Significant Interest in Preventing Animal Cruelty  
• Animal Legal & Historical Center: Justice v. the State of Texas, 532 S.W.3d 862 (Tex. App. 2017).  
• Animal Welfare Institute: Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act  
• Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, H.R. 724, 116th Cong. (2019)  
• Animal Legal Defense Fund: What to Do if You Witness Animal Cruelty Online