6 April 2004
AMSTERDAM — Dutch Agriculture Minister Cees Veerman has confirmed he will examine the possibility of making sex with animals a criminal offence.
Veerman’s announcement came after MPs were outraged at the start of March when a man caught raping a pony in Utrecht could not be punished because he had not broken any law.
A majority in the Dutch Parliament later declared that it was in favour of criminalising all forms of bestiality, Radio Netherlands was reporting on Tuesday.
And Minister Veerman said in a letter to Parliament on Monday he hopes to amend the law regarding animal welfare before the summer.
The animal welfare law summarises what acts are animal cruelty and are thus prosecutable. Offences include transporting a cow with full udders, using a dog as draught animal and a pet owner personally castrating their cat.
Veerman will now investigate the possibility of adding sex with animals to the list of acts classified as animal cruelty, news agency ANP reported.
The Christian Democrat CDA, Labour PvdA, populist LPF, Socialist Party (SP) and green-left GroenLinks parties are all in favour of a general ban on bestiality.
[Copyright Expatica News 2004]
Subject: Dutch news