An Iowa Senate panel unanimously advanced legislation Thursday to expand Iowa’s laws against sexual abuse of animals, a practice that animal welfare advocates say is ticking up in Iowa.
The Iowa Capitol is shown on a snowy day Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024.
Kathie Obradovich, Iowa Capital Dispatch
Angela Caulk of the Humane Society of the U.S. said her organization proposed Senate File 2018 because Iowa’s current law is out of date.
She cited some bestiality cases in Iowa, including one in Council Bluffs. Just last week, a Cedar Falls man was charged with sexually assaulting his dog, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
In 2011, a Council Bluffs man was arrested for throwing the cat from a seventh floor window, where he stood naked, after attempting a sex act with the cat and using methamphetamine. Bestiality charges were later dropped, and the man was sentenced to two years in prison.
Caulk said there have also been cases in which people have advertised in Iowa that they wanted to have sex with animals and others have advertised that they were willing to make their pets or livestock available to be sexually abused. People with such interests move around the country and are known to target states with lighter penalties, she said.
“On another note, there is also correlation between animal-related sex crimes and abuse against women and children,” Caulk said, noting that in some cases, women have been forced by a partner to participate in an act of bestiality on camera, only to have the video used against them in a child custody proceeding.
Senators on the panel indicated their disgust with the topic.
“Ewww,” Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said. He asked the lobbyists at the meeting whether any of them opposed the bill. None did.
Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, said people make jokes but “… it really is sick what some people do out there and I couldn’t wrap my head around it. But this is why we have some laws.”
The third member of the subcommittee, Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, also supported the bill. “Once again we’re doing a bill that we shouldn’t have to do because of deterioration of society,” he said.
The bill would expand the definition of bestiality to include not only sexual contact with an animal but also permitting it on one’s property. Photographing or filming obscene material or possessing, selling or distributing video of bestiality would also be outlawed. Forcing, coercing or enticing a minor to commit an act of bestiality would also be a crime.
The legislation specifically exempts normal veterinary or animal husbandry practices such as artificial insemination.
A first violation of the law would be an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $8,540. A second offense would be a class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,245. Current law also requires psychological evaluation and treatment for anyone convicted of bestiality.
The bill moves next to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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The Iowa Capitol is shown on a snowy day Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024.
Kathie Obradovich, Iowa Capital Dispatch
Angela Caulk of the Humane Society of the U.S. said her organization proposed Senate File 2018 because Iowa’s current law is out of date.
She cited some bestiality cases in Iowa, including one in Council Bluffs. Just last week, a Cedar Falls man was charged with sexually assaulting his dog, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
In 2011, a Council Bluffs man was arrested for throwing the cat from a seventh floor window, where he stood naked, after attempting a sex act with the cat and using methamphetamine. Bestiality charges were later dropped, and the man was sentenced to two years in prison.
Caulk said there have also been cases in which people have advertised in Iowa that they wanted to have sex with animals and others have advertised that they were willing to make their pets or livestock available to be sexually abused. People with such interests move around the country and are known to target states with lighter penalties, she said.
“On another note, there is also correlation between animal-related sex crimes and abuse against women and children,” Caulk said, noting that in some cases, women have been forced by a partner to participate in an act of bestiality on camera, only to have the video used against them in a child custody proceeding.
Senators on the panel indicated their disgust with the topic.
“Ewww,” Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said. He asked the lobbyists at the meeting whether any of them opposed the bill. None did.
Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, said people make jokes but “… it really is sick what some people do out there and I couldn’t wrap my head around it. But this is why we have some laws.”
The third member of the subcommittee, Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, also supported the bill. “Once again we’re doing a bill that we shouldn’t have to do because of deterioration of society,” he said.
The bill would expand the definition of bestiality to include not only sexual contact with an animal but also permitting it on one’s property. Photographing or filming obscene material or possessing, selling or distributing video of bestiality would also be outlawed. Forcing, coercing or enticing a minor to commit an act of bestiality would also be a crime.
The legislation specifically exempts normal veterinary or animal husbandry practices such as artificial insemination.
A first violation of the law would be an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $8,540. A second offense would be a class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,245. Current law also requires psychological evaluation and treatment for anyone convicted of bestiality.
The bill moves next to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate panel approves expansion of Iowa’s law against sexual abuse of animals
An Iowa Senate panel unanimously advanced legislation Thursday to expand Iowa’s laws against sexual abuse of animals.
