Texas Lawmakers Finally Looking to Outlaw Bestiality
Texas legislators voted Saturday to remove Texas from the short list of states without a law in the books against bestiality.
As of 2017, Texas is only one of eight states in the country to not have laws directly making bestiality a crime. Other states without a bestiality ban include Kentucky, Hawaii, Nevada, West Virginia, New Mexico, Vermont, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia. On Saturday, Texas lawmakers looked to rectify the situation by passing Senate bill 1232. The bill would make bestiality a state jail felony and require offenders to register as sex offenders. Under the bill, the crime would be elevated to a second-degree felony if the act harmed to killed the animal, or it took place in the presence of a child
According to the Texas Tribune, during the initial voting, six representatives voted against the measure, but later filed official statements saying they intended to vote for the bill. On Sunday, the official vote was submitted as 141-0. During open discussion of the bill, opponents argued that current laws against lewdness and animal cruelty should be enough to prosecute offenders, while supporters of the bill said that many of these crimes are done in private and public lewdness laws are ineffective in dealing with the issue.
Senate bill 1232 outlines the physical acts that would be punishable, as well as punishing those who own, buy, sell, or transport animals with the intent of subjecting them to sexual contact with a human.