Her454
03-30-2006, 07:05 PM
And you guys make fun of Mullet Mountain! :yuk:
Proposed state legislation would ban sex with animals
FROM STAFF REPORTS AND CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICESFROM STAFF REPORTS AND CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
Mar 28, 2006, 8:33 pm
Having sex with animals would again be against state law, under legislation prompted by several recent animal abuse incidents that are reminiscent of a Yuma County case a year ago.
"Normally you would hope that you wouldn't need to put statutes like these on the books because you would hope everybody is morally decent," said Yuma County Attorney Jon Smith. "The thought is that something like this doesn't occur, but unfortunately I guess it does, so I suppose they should be on the books."
In April 2005, Smith's office was faced with the prospect of prosecuting Jose Efrain Garcia-Arredondo, a Yuma man arrested by sheriff's deputies for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with an 8-year-old brown female Nubian goat in a pen behind a home located west of Yuma.
He was initially charged with animal cruelty since there was no law on the books against bestiality.
Yuma County Superior Court Judge Tom Cole in October dismissed all changes against Garcia-Arredondo after he was found to be mentally unfit to stand trial.
On Tuesday, the House Committee on Counties, Municipalities and Military Affairs adopted a measure to make having sex with any nonhuman vertebrate a felony offense. It now goes to the House floor for a vote and, if approved there, on to the state Senate.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. John Nelson, R-Litchfield, carries a sentence of up to a year in prison if convicted, and 2 years in prison for anyone who forces someone else to have sex with an animal.
There have been several publicized bestiality incidents around the state recently that have drawn attention to the fact that Arizona does not have laws that make having sex with an animal a crime.
Earlier this month a Mesa deputy fire chief was arrested after he allegedly was trying to have sex with a neighbor's sheep.
It turned out that Maricopa County sheriff's deputies could only charge the man with disorderly conduct.
In the Yuma case, Garcia-Arredondo was charged not only with cruelty to animals but with burglary, for allegedly entering the goat pen.
According to court records, the owners of the goat previously suspected that someone was entering the pen and having sex with their goats after they found a piece of tape sticking to one of the goat's muzzles.
The goatÂ’s owners caught Garcia-Arredondo in the act after he tripped an alarm they set up to go off inside their home whenever someone entered the pen, the sheriff's office said.
The owners, according to court records, kept Garcia-Arredondo in the stall until deputies arrived and arrested him.
Reports show sheep and and goats aren't the only victims. A missing 8-pound poodle was found this past weekend after Phoenix police said it had been sodomized.
And police in southern Arizona seized a dog near Three Points after saying it had been both physically abused and the victim of sexual conduct.
"You don't even want to think about these types of things, but I guess you have to now," Smith said. "They are deplorable."
Smith, who said he was surprised about the lack of any laws concerning bestiality on the books, explained that laws covering "moral issues," such as bestiality, are for the legislature to decide because it would be a law that controls a person's behavior.
According to Nelson, laws against bestiality were removed from the books in 2001 when legislators voted to repeal what were termed as "archaic" sex laws.
Proposed state legislation would ban sex with animals
FROM STAFF REPORTS AND CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICESFROM STAFF REPORTS AND CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
Mar 28, 2006, 8:33 pm
Having sex with animals would again be against state law, under legislation prompted by several recent animal abuse incidents that are reminiscent of a Yuma County case a year ago.
"Normally you would hope that you wouldn't need to put statutes like these on the books because you would hope everybody is morally decent," said Yuma County Attorney Jon Smith. "The thought is that something like this doesn't occur, but unfortunately I guess it does, so I suppose they should be on the books."
In April 2005, Smith's office was faced with the prospect of prosecuting Jose Efrain Garcia-Arredondo, a Yuma man arrested by sheriff's deputies for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with an 8-year-old brown female Nubian goat in a pen behind a home located west of Yuma.
He was initially charged with animal cruelty since there was no law on the books against bestiality.
Yuma County Superior Court Judge Tom Cole in October dismissed all changes against Garcia-Arredondo after he was found to be mentally unfit to stand trial.
On Tuesday, the House Committee on Counties, Municipalities and Military Affairs adopted a measure to make having sex with any nonhuman vertebrate a felony offense. It now goes to the House floor for a vote and, if approved there, on to the state Senate.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. John Nelson, R-Litchfield, carries a sentence of up to a year in prison if convicted, and 2 years in prison for anyone who forces someone else to have sex with an animal.
There have been several publicized bestiality incidents around the state recently that have drawn attention to the fact that Arizona does not have laws that make having sex with an animal a crime.
Earlier this month a Mesa deputy fire chief was arrested after he allegedly was trying to have sex with a neighbor's sheep.
It turned out that Maricopa County sheriff's deputies could only charge the man with disorderly conduct.
In the Yuma case, Garcia-Arredondo was charged not only with cruelty to animals but with burglary, for allegedly entering the goat pen.
According to court records, the owners of the goat previously suspected that someone was entering the pen and having sex with their goats after they found a piece of tape sticking to one of the goat's muzzles.
The goatÂ’s owners caught Garcia-Arredondo in the act after he tripped an alarm they set up to go off inside their home whenever someone entered the pen, the sheriff's office said.
The owners, according to court records, kept Garcia-Arredondo in the stall until deputies arrived and arrested him.
Reports show sheep and and goats aren't the only victims. A missing 8-pound poodle was found this past weekend after Phoenix police said it had been sodomized.
And police in southern Arizona seized a dog near Three Points after saying it had been both physically abused and the victim of sexual conduct.
"You don't even want to think about these types of things, but I guess you have to now," Smith said. "They are deplorable."
Smith, who said he was surprised about the lack of any laws concerning bestiality on the books, explained that laws covering "moral issues," such as bestiality, are for the legislature to decide because it would be a law that controls a person's behavior.
According to Nelson, laws against bestiality were removed from the books in 2001 when legislators voted to repeal what were termed as "archaic" sex laws.