Which countries have recently changed their laws to ban bestiality since 2015?

1. Denmark’s 2015 ban: what happened and why

Denmark’s parliament approved a law in April 2015 that explicitly banned bestiality, tightening earlier provisions that only criminalized sexual intercourse with animals when it caused demonstrable harm, and the change took effect later that year as part of an amended Animal Protection Act ^{[1] [3]}. The Danish farming minister argued the previous rule left animals without sufficient protection because it was difficult to prove suffering, and supporters framed the law as necessary to curb "animal-sex tourism" and ensure Denmark did not remain an outlier in northern Europe ^{[1] [2]}. The new penalties include fines or imprisonment—reporting cited up to one year for a first offence and two years for repeat offences—underscoring the law’s punitive as well as symbolic intent ^[1].

2. The European context before and after Denmark’s move

Contemporary coverage placed Denmark’s vote in the context of a broader European convergence toward criminalizing sexual acts with animals: Germany, Norway, Sweden and Britain had already outlawed bestiality before Denmark’s legislation, and after the Danish vote only Finland, Hungary and Romania were identified as EU countries not outlawing it ^{[2] [3] [1]}. The Library of Congress summary and BBC reporting both underline that the Danish change aligned its law with the majority of EU member states at that moment ^{[3] [1]}. Those sources further signal that public opinion in Denmark favored the ban: a referenced survey from late 2014 found strong public support for prohibiting sexual relations with animals ^[3].

3. Drivers, advocates and political debate

Animal-rights advocacy groups including PETA were publicly engaged in pushing for stronger protections, and ministers and lawmakers articulated both welfare and reputational rationales—protecting animals and avoiding the country’s perception as a haven for illicit sexual tourism ^{[3] [1]}. Parliamentary debates showed some political division: most parties supported the ban, while at least one party argued it was unnecessary or a problematic imposition of morality, reflecting a recurring tension between criminal law as a tool of animal welfare versus limits on private behavior ^[1].

4. Limits of available reporting and what is not shown here

The sources provided document Denmark’s 2015 legislative change clearly but do not supply verified, contemporaneous examples of other countries enacting new bans on bestiality after 2015; secondary lists and encyclopedic maps exist but were not tied in these sources to specific post-2015 legal reforms or authoritative dates beyond Denmark ^{[4] [5]}. Where a source claims other recent changes—such as Listverse’s statement that Sweden and some U.S. states "within the last six years" had outlawed bestiality—those claims appear unlinked to primary legal reporting in the materials provided and therefore cannot be treated here as confirmed without further legal-source verification ^[5].

5. Bottom line and avenues for verification

Based on the reporting assembled, Denmark is the documented country that changed its law to ban bestiality in 2015; that reform brought Denmark into line with most Western European states while leaving a small number of EU countries identified as exceptions at the time ^{[1] [2] [3]}. To produce a comprehensive, up-to-date global list of countries that have adopted bans since 2015 would require consulting national criminal codes, official government gazettes or updated legal databases beyond the supplied reporting; those authoritative legal texts or a systematic survey from a legal NGO would be the next step to confirm subsequent reforms ^[4].