[Vision2020] Lawmakers to Hear Bestiality Bill

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (January 31, 2006) Seattle Post-Intelligencer -

 

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Lawmakers to hear bestiality bill Tuesday 

Monday, January 30, 2006

 

By JASON McBRIDE

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

 

OLYMPIA - After the infamous incident at an Enumclaw farm last July that
left one man dead after he had sex with a horse, state lawmakers are trying
to close a loophole in Washington's animal cruelty laws. 

 

Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, will present her anti-bestiality bill to the
Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday afternoon. Bestiality is not illegal in
Washington. Roach says people who have sex with animals are victimizing
them, just like pedophiles molest children. 

 

"Animals cannot give permission, contrary to what people may think," Roach
said. "So you go under the assumption that they are innocent." Susan
Michaels, co-founder of Pasado's Safe Haven, an animal rescue sanctuary in
Sultan, came to Roach with the idea for the legislation last year because of
the Enumclaw case. 

 

"It brought to light to many what happens behind closed doors, what no one
wants to talk about," Michaels said. 

 

The measure - Senate Bill 6417 - would make having sex with an animal, alive
or dead, a class C felony, which would result in a one to three month
sentence in most cases, according to Dan Satterberg, chief of staff at the
King County Prosecutor's Office. 

 

Satterberg and other proponents say sexual predators often have a history
that includes sexual abuse of animals. "It is frequent to see that they
began their offense with an animal," Satterberg said."Obviously, animals
can't testify 5 right now, there's nothing that can be done that can bring
that kind of attention of the court." 

 

The bill originally included language that would have made videotaping - as
was done in the Enumclaw incident - of animal sex illegal, but sponsors took
it out because profiting from electronic images is already illegal under the
state's laws against lewd matter.

 

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How you gonna keep them down on the farm . . .

 

Take care, Moscow.

 

Tom Hansen

 

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
sideways, chocolate in one hand, a drink in the other, body thoroughly used
up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO. What a ride!'"

 

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