It pays for activists to be tenacious and patient. Who would have thought that it would take three long years and a petition on Change.org for bestiality to be outlawed in Florida? On May 26, Governor Rick Scott signed SB 344 into law, making it a crime to have sexual conduct or contact with animals.
Now that Florida has finally taken steps to protect animals from sexual abuse, the issue of bestiality has surfaced in Ohio with the recent arrest of a Shelby, Ohio man.
Peter Bower was arrested for animal cruelty after authorities discovered an extensive history of sexual activity with his dog. The sheperd-mix was examined by a veterinarian and said to have vaginal bruising. In addition to taking the dog, authorities confiscated numerous items from Bower's apartment, including books on bestiality, photos of the man with animals, and a plastic blow-up sheep.
According to a report by J. Kinton of the News Journal, the back of Bower's vehicle is lined with "I love my German Shepherd" bumper stickers. I'll never look at those stickers on cars the same way again.
Enter good guy Rep. Jay Goyal, who was appalled enough to want to act to prevent this type of abuse in his state. Rep Goyal said, "When I learned that this horrendous and sickening act was committed in my district and found that there were no laws in Ohio banning this, I had to take action."
The representative has had a comprehensive bill drafted that he plans to introduce in the legislature this session that would outlaw sexual contact and sexual conduct with animals.
Hopefully, it won't take Rep. Goyal's bill as long as it did for the Florida law to pass. However, you never know. Rep Goyal stated that "A lot of colleagues don't want to touch it." In Illinois, the practice was outlawed in one year, but the legislation had to be amended onto another crime bill because of the huge "yuck" factor involved. That was the problem in Florida, too: Folks just don't want to talk about it.
Let's help Representative Goyal protect animals. Please sign Hand4Paws petition to outlaw bestiality in Ohio.
Photo Credit: Karma by Ledy VanKavage
Posted: 2011-06-23 11:32:00
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