Support Bill to Strengthen NH Cruelty Law

Dear New Hampshire Humanitarian,

We are happy to report that a committee of the New Hampshire House of Representatives unanimously approved HB 1547, a bill to prohibit and punish bestiality as a separate crime under New Hampshire's sexual assault law. The bill will soon move to the floor for a vote and we need your help to get it passed! Please ask your representative to vote for this important effort to strengthen the law against violent offenders.

Bestiality is illegal in most countries and US states. HB 1547 would make New Hampshire the 41st state with a specific ban against this practice.

Some contend that bestiality is not a "violent" crime. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is bestiality abhorrent and cruel, but it also often results in serious injury to or the death of the animal. Moreover, there is a strong relationship to interpersonal violence, including sexual assault of people:

• Juveniles who sexually assault animals are more likely to later commit crimes of interpersonal violence; it is, in fact, the single strongest risk factor for future sexual abuse of children.
• Among juveniles who had reported engaging in animal sexual assault, 95 percent had also sexually assaulted people.
• In one jurisdiction in Virginia, of ten adult males convicted of crimes related to bestiality, eight had also been involved in crimes involving children (e.g., child pornography, soliciting sex from a minor).
   

Animal sexual assault is not the rare, isolated perversion people prefer to think it is. The explosion of the Internet both facilitates this crime and allows it to flourish by allowing and encouraging perpetrators to communicate with and seek out one another, find animals for sexual purposes, and share their encounters. Passage of HB 1547 would greatly enhance New Hampshire's ability to protect both animals and its communities—especially its children—from sexually violent offenders.

What You Can Do:
Please call your state representative to request support for HB 1547. Click here to find your representative's contact information. When you call, you can say: "I am a constituent, and I'm calling to ask you to vote for HB 1547 to make animal sexual assault a separate crime under New Hampshire's sexual assault law. This will better protect both people and animals from violent predators."

After making your phone call, please take the additional step of sending a follow-up email to your state representative via AWI's Compassion Index.

Please be sure to share our "Dear Humanitarian" eAlert with family, friends and co-workers in New Hampshire, and encourage them to speak out. As always, thank you very much for your dedication to protecting animals!

Sincerely,

Nancy Blaney
Senior Policy Advisor

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