Goats across Spain are celebrating after the government decided to make zoophilia (sexual exploitation of animals) and animal fights illegal.
The Penal Code will be amended to allow jail sentences of between three months and one year for fiddling with animals, and six months to two years for “cock or dog fights in shows without a license”.
Interestingly enough, the zoophilia article is redacted as maltrate injustificadamente cualquier animal que no viva en estado salvaje, causándole lesiones que menoscaben gravamente su salud o sometiéndole a explotación sexual (my emphasis) which to my mind suggests it’s still permitted if it is a wild animal. I suppose the lawyers thought that anyone foolish enough to expose their gentleman sausage to a captive lynx or fox deserves whatever they get….
Cock (as in the opposite to a hen) fighting is still technically legal in Andalucia, and indeed goes on in the back streets of many towns. Almería city has a vibrant cock fighting scene, with a rather nasty documentary from Cuatro seared into my minds eye as I write this.
Animal right welfare in general is to be tightened up at the same time, with Judges being permitted to ban people from owning any animals if they are not deemed to be responsible owners. Anyone convicted of dog or cock fights will be banned from owning such animals for a period of between 10 to 20 years.
A series of fines will be introduced for offences such as putting the lives of pets in danger, abandoning animals, etc.
The amendment to the law was put forwards by the ERC party, a left wing progressive party from Catalonia who are big on animals rights. Despite this victory, their spokesman in Congress lamented that their reforms were much watered down and that Spain continues to lag behind the rest of the EU in animal rights.