A man charged with animal cruelty after being caught with his pants down in a Gozitan stable has denied any wrongdoing, insisting he was drunk and had gone to find his phone in the premises.

22-year-old Nigerian Robert Omo was also accused of damaging the farmer’s Xewkija property – but he couldn’t be charged with bestiality because it is not illegal in Malta. 

The incident surfaced on 1st October after the farmer caught Ono chasing his horse with his pants down, beating his mane and striking the horse with the rim of a tyre.

The man eventually escaped but this time he only got as far as the LIDL supermarket in Rabat before police arrested him.

A similar case involving sheep in St Julian’s last month prompted calls for the criminalisation of bestiality and Animal Rights Minister Anton Refalo called for the introduction of harsher bestiality laws.

Lawyer Etienne Savona has warned that this legal lacuna means Malta risks becoming a global hotspot for tourists who want to have sex with animals.

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