BERLIN鈥擥ermany is set to tighten its laws against bestiality in a bid to improve animal welfare, a lawmaker involved in drafting the legislation said on Monday.
Bestiality was removed from Germany鈥檚 penal code in 1969 and since then has only been against the law if 鈥渟ignificant harm鈥� is inflicted on the animal.
But Hans-Michael Goldmann, head of the parliamentary commission looking into the subject, told AFP he wanted to 鈥渂an bestiality in a draft law on animal protection鈥�.
According to left-leaning daily Tageszeitung (TAZ), the new legislation will make bestiality punishable by a fine of up to 25,000 euros ($32,000).
The act will no longer depend on whether harm is inflicted, but rather on whether the animal is forced to commit 鈥渁ctions alien to the species鈥� according to the draft legislation.
A spokesman for the agriculture ministry told a regular government briefing that the new legislation aims to clarify the legal position.
鈥淲ith this explicit ban, it will be easier to impose penalties and to improve animal protection,鈥� Goldmann told mass circulation Bild.
But the president of a group representing people who engage in the act of bestiality said he would take legal action.
鈥淚t is unthinkable that any sexual act with an animal is punished without proof that the animal has come to any harm,鈥� Michael Kiok said in an interview with the TAZ.