What penalties exist for bestiality in the United States and when did laws change?
Executive summary
Most anti-bestiality criminal law is state-level: by early 2025 nearly every state had some prohibition and penalties range from misdemeanors to felonies with fines, prison terms, and collateral orders like bans on animal ownership; historically only a minority of states had explicit statutes but “all states except West Virginia” had statutes by one review cited [1] and advocacy groups reported West Virginia as the lone holdout in January 2025 [2]. At the federal level Congress has limited involvement: the PACT Act criminalized specific animal-crushing conduct with penalties up to seven years [3], and recent legislative efforts (Animal Cruelty Enforcement Act) seek broader federal enforcement capacity [4].
1. State patchwork: penalties range from slap-on-the-wrist misdemeanors to multi-year felonies
State laws determine the substance and severity of penalties for sexual conduct with animals. A 2014 review found 31 states then had antibestiality statutes with 16 felonies and 15 misdemeanors; later reporting shows the landscape shifted so that by the mid‑2020s virtually every state except West Virginia had statutory prohibitions [1] [2]. Where criminalized, penalties vary: many states still classify some bestiality offenses as misdemeanors while others impose felonies—often triggered by aggravating facts (animal death, serious injury, repeat offenses, or involvement of minors) and permitting prison and fines under state cruelty codes [5] [1].
2. Federal limits and targeted federal crimes: PACT Act and specialized statutes
There is no comprehensive federal ban that criminalizes all bestiality nationwide; federal law traditionally left most animal-cruelty matters to states. Congress did criminalize the specific act of “animal crushing” and related conduct under the PACT Act, which authorizes penalties including fines and up to seven years’ imprisonment for covered federal offenses [3] [6]. Other federal efforts have focused on enforcement structures—bills like the Animal Cruelty Enforcement Act propose an Animal Cruelty Crimes Section at DOJ to centralize prosecutions [4] [7].
3. Recent legislative momentum and where laws changed most visibly
Advocates and legal centers document a surge of state statute updates in the 2010s–2020s to close perceived loopholes (historical “crime against nature” language was often antiquated), adding modern definitions and penalties; Michigan State’s Animal Legal & Historical Center and other reviews note many recent additions of antibestiality language and cruelty-code revisions [5] [8]. By January 2025 the Animal Legal Defense Fund highlighted West Virginia as the only remaining state without an explicit ban, reflecting the recent wave of state enactments [2].
4. How penalties are increased: aggravators and collateral consequences
Across sources, states escalate criminal classification based on aggravating circumstances: causing serious injury or death to an animal, forcing minors to participate, repeat convictions, or producing/filming sexual conduct with animals can convert a misdemeanor into a felony and raise prison exposure [5] [8]. Courts frequently have authority to impose non‑custodial collateral orders—bans on animal ownership, mandatory counseling, and forfeiture or seizure of animals—measures that legal summaries say many states permit as part of sentencing [9] [10].
5. Diverging perspectives and implicit agendas in the sources
Legal compilations (Michigan State’s Animal Legal & Historical Center) frame the issue as legal-survey work, emphasizing statutory text and legislative change [5]. Advocacy groups like the Animal Legal Defense Fund press for universal explicit bans and highlight remaining gaps [2]. Federal materials (PACT Act summaries and congressional bills) argue that federal tools are needed because animal cruelty correlates with other violent crime—an argument used to justify federal enforcement expansion [3] [4]. Petition and activist material call for harsher penalties and registration as sex offenders, reflecting political advocacy that is more punitive than some statutory frameworks [11].
6. Gaps in available reporting and limits of this snapshot
Available sources document statutory changes and advocacy through 2024–early 2025 but do not provide a single authoritative, up‑to‑the‑minute table of every state’s current maximum penalties, nor do they uniformly list exact prison terms and fine ranges per state—researchers must consult each state code for precise sentencing exposure [5] [12]. Sources agree federal criminal liability for most bestiality remains limited to targeted statutes like the PACT Act and military code provisions [5] [3].
7. Practical takeaway for readers and policymakers
If you want exact penalties for a jurisdiction, consult that state’s criminal code or the National AgLaw Center and Michigan State’s compilations for statutory text; the PACT Act is the main federal statute creating up-to-seven‑year federal exposure for specific severe acts [3] [12]. Advocacy pressure and congressional bills in recent years demonstrate bipartisan momentum toward stronger federal enforcement mechanisms and nearly complete state-level coverage as of early 2025 [4] [2].
Limitations: this analysis relies only on the supplied sources and therefore cannot confirm any state changes enacted after those reports; available sources do not mention subsequent state-by-state sentencing tables or post‑2025 statutory amendments not cited above.