The news has spread in the media and social networks that in Spain they have allegedly stopped considering sex with an animal a crime unless it is seriously injured during sexual intercourse. We checked if this is true.
The topic of legalizing bestiality in Spain gained popularity in mid-February 2023. One of the first to report this innovation was a former deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Elena Panina, who wrote in her Telegram channel: “Bestiality, which until now was considered a criminal offense in the kingdom, will cease to be such “if it does not harm the animal.” Soon, many popular Telegram channels shared the news, for example “Ax 18+"(2.4 million views at the time of writing the analysis), "Trukha Ukraine" (1.3 million), "Trash Hard 18+" (463,000) and "Especially for RT"(144,000). The reform of Spanish legislation was reported by such media as “Moskovsky Komsomolets", "Moscow 24", "Parliamentary newspaper", "Gazeta.ru"and TV channel NTV, as well as users "VKontakte", Facebook, TikTok And Twitter. One of the VKontakte users wrote, that in this way in Spain they allegedly want to fight for the rights of zoophiles, and lawyer and animal rights activist Anastasia Komagina suggested, that this bill could be beneficial to certain layers “close to the government elite” in Spain.
In many publications Media coverage of the new Spanish law uses the words “decriminalization” and “legalization” interchangeably. However, in legal and legislative practice, these two similar terms have a key difference. Decriminalization - this is the transfer of criminal acts to the category of administrative or disciplinary, but still illegal. For example, in 2017, domestic violence was decriminalized in Russia: citizens who beat their loved ones for the first time, since then threatens not a prison sentence, but a fine in the amount of 5,000 to 30,000 rubles, administrative arrest or compulsory labor. Legalization is the process of turning the illegal into the legal; refusal of criminal and administrative prosecution. Thus, in the Russian Federation recently legalized so-called parallel imports. Until March 2022, “gray” imports (that is, importing goods into the country without the permission of the trademark owner) were considered smuggling and were prohibited by law, but subsequently ceased to be punishable by the state. Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov last fall reported about the prosperity of “gray” imports and expressed hope that the volume of activities that were recently illegal in Russia will double by the end of the year.
Conversations about the legalization or decriminalization of bestiality in Spain began with the fact that on February 9, 2023, the Congress of Deputies (lower house of the local parliament) approved a bill aimed at protecting the welfare of both domestic pets and wild animals living temporarily or permanently under human control (for example, circus animals). Then the bill was transferred to the Senate for further discussion and potential approval. Among other provisions, the bill implied a change Article 337 Spanish Criminal Code regarding criminal penalties for cruelty to animals. In actual versions Article punishes “sexual exploitation” of animals. The new bill proposed replacing this language with “acts of a sexual nature that cause an injury to the animal that requires treatment.” Full text of Article 337 suggested formulate as follows: “Punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of three to 18 months or a fine in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of six to 12 months, as well as punishment in the form of debarment for a period of one to five years from engaging in a profession, craft or business related to animals, and from owning animals is provided for acts outside the types of activities approved by law, committed in any way, including in the form of acts of a sexual nature, causing harm to a vertebrate animal requiring veterinary treatment to restore its health.”
Many interpreted the proposed language as eliminating criminal penalties for bestiality unless the animal is seriously harmed. However, just like February 14th explained The authors of the bill are from the Ministry of Social Rights, the outdated term “sexual exploitation” refers to activities of an economic or commercial nature and sexual acts with animals committed in other contexts remain unpunished. “Now, instead of sexual exploitation, all sexual acts with animals will be criminalized. If bodily injury occurs, it will be considered a more serious criminal offense; in other cases - classified as abuse (article 147 management company, which assumes punishment in the form of a fine. — Approx. ed.),” the ministry explained.
Spanish edition Newtral also interviewed a number of animal welfare experts. They came to the conclusion that if we compare the current text of Article 337 of the Spanish Criminal Code with the text after the proposed amendment, it becomes clear that all actions that were previously prohibited will remain illegal. The bill before Parliament simply proposes adding a number of new provisions that would make animal welfare legislation consistent with modern understandings of what constitutes cruelty.
Another reason why bestiality cannot be decriminalized in Spain: the current version of the local criminal code does not directly criminalize it. The term is not mentioned at all, but instead refers generally to all types of animal cruelty.
A similar state of affairs is observed in Russian criminal legislation. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains only wording “Cruel treatment of an animal for the purpose of causing it pain and (or) suffering, as well as for hooligan or selfish motives, resulting in its death or injury” (Article 245). That is, in order for a zoophile to be “under investigation,” it is necessary that he abuses the animal in some way precisely for the purpose of causing it pain and suffering, and that the animal is injured or killed as a result of this. Otherwise, acts of bestiality do not entail any criminal liability. In 2021 activists offered to make bestiality a separate crime under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but the initiative did not receive the necessary 100,000 online votes for consideration at the federal level.
In many countries around the world (for example, most EU countries and most US states) bestiality is illegal, and punishments are prescribed in the criminal or administrative codes. That is, even if the animal was not harmed, the zoophile is still will bear punishment in the form of a fine or imprisonment.
As for the Spanish bill, although it aims to toughen penalties and expand the definition of animal cruelty, its vague wording still called there is a lot of controversy in Spanish society and the Senate. At the time of publication of this analysis, the Senate was still considering the bill and making amendments to the text. Some of these amendments They also relate to the controversial text of Article 337, which has caused so much misunderstanding.
Thus, at the time of publication of news about the legalization of bestiality in Spain, the bill that provoked the appearance of such messages was only at the consideration stage and was far from coming into force. But even in the proposed new wording, which was cited by indignant media and social network users, the law does not imply the abolition of punishment for bestiality. Acts of bestiality - both in current legislation and in the proposed legislation - fall under the definition of cruelty to animals, which, depending on the severity of the harm caused to the animal, will entail either criminal or administrative penalties.
Cover photo: Freepik
Not true
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