65°F
weather icon Partly Cloudy

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.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Lawsuit challenges Nevada’s new diabetes drug disclosure law

Two pharmaceutical groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of a bill passed by the 2017 Nevada Legislature requiring disclosure of the pricing of diabetes drugs.

Nevada Legislature approves final payment for ESA software

The final action on Nevada’s controversial private school choice program came Thursday when the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee approved $105,000 to pay off the remaining costs incurred by a vendor who was working on the development of software to implement the program.

 
Recall targets a third Nevada senator

A third recall petition against a female Nevada state senator was filed Wednesday.

Federal government approves Nevada’s education plan

Nevada is among four states to get U.S. Education Department approval of its plan as required under a new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA.