Assembly amends bestiality legislation to better protect animals, owners

CARSON CITY — Animal shelter volunteers take note: You’ll have to give up your volunteer work if lawmakers make bestiality a crime and you’re convicted.

Assembly lawmakers amended legislation on Monday that makes bestiality a crime in a way that adds more protections for animals and their owners.

Assembly Bill 391 would end Nevada’s status as one of a few states that don’t forbid carnal relations with animals. The bill would make bestiality a gross misdemeanor or felony, with punishments that include prison time; mandatory mental health evaluations and counseling; and forfeiting their animals.

The amendment passed Monday would also clarify that people convicted of bestiality cannot work around animals, including as animal shelter volunteers.

The bill was also changed so that perpetrators who commit the crime with someone else’s animal would have to pay for any veterinarian bills.

The bill has the support of the Humane Society and animal advocates. Supporters have pointed to myriad reasons for making bestiality a crime. For example, the bill’s supporters say, studies show that the behavior can lead to more serious crimes against children.

Although it’s unclear how widespread the behavior is, perpetrators openly use the internet to advertise animals for the act, including in Nevada, according to testimony that lawmakers heard earlier this month in the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining.

For the bill to stay alive, the assembly must pass it by the end of Tuesday, the deadline for legislation to pass one chamber.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @BenBotkin1 on Twitter.