Opposition MP Calls For Introduction Of Laws Banning Sex With Animals
Opposition MP Mario Galea has called on Parliament to legislate against the sexual abuse of animals, arguing that it was unacceptable for this not to be contemplated by Maltese law.
Galea was speaking during a debate about amendments to the Animal Welfare Act, during which he said that it was unacceptable for Malta not to have laws that specifically cater for instances were people are caught having sexual relations with animals.
The MP said he had been approached by members of the judiciary, who had pointed out that currently, if a man is found guilty of bestiality, as the act is called, the only provisions of the law that can be used to punish them are those related to animal cruelty.
“I would like us to introduce laws that prohibit bestiality,” Galea said. “It should be at least one year in prison for anyone found guilty of this. There should also be a fine of €6,000.”
Galea insisted that Parliament needed to give the judiciary the tools necessary for it to be able to effectively hand down punishment in such cases.
Speaking to Lovin Malta last year, lawyer Etienne Savona, argued that Malta risked become a hotspot for people who enjoyed having sex with animals if it did not legislate in this regard.
“As laws criminalise bestiality in other countries, zoophiles and bestialists will have a narrower field of countries to choose from where the practice is not banned,” Savona had told Lovin Malta. He is the author of a 2016 thesis ‘A Proposal to Criminalise Bestiality in Malta‘.
Back in October 2020, a man was charged in court after he was caught trying to have sex with a mare at a Xewkija farm. The case followed another similar case a month earlier.
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