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Dog lover loved dog far too much: court

Meritxell Mir
Meritxell Mir - [email protected]
Dog lover loved dog far too much: court

A young man who had sex with his dog for several years has been ordered to undergo regular psychiatric treatment if he is to avoid spending eight months behind bars, a Swiss court ruled on Monday.

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The judge at Liestal court in northwestern Switzerland took into account the results of a psychiatric diagnosis. Results found the defendant to be a person of extraordinary intelligence but with a severe personality disorder that manifested itself in narcissistic ways.

The public prosecutor had demanded 20 months in prison for the professed zoophile. Unlike in countries like Denmark, Hungary and Sweden, sex with animals is forbidden in Switzerland.

According to the investigations, the 25-year-old man had been having sex with his puppy Blässli, an Appenzeller mountain dog, and two other dogs since 2008. A vet discovered evidence of the defendant’s practices by chance on a pro-zoophilia internet forum.

The animal doctor reported the case to the police, saying it was easy to identify the man because he used his real name on websites discussing zoophilia from a theoretical point of view. On more taboo forums detailing sex acts with animals, he would use a pseudonym. The vet told the judge he could see no evidence in the defendant's posts of the animal having suffered from its treatment.

Newspaper 20 Minutes reported that the defendant looked much older than his 25 years due to his beard and general appearance. The newspaper also pointed out that his behaviour during the trial was somewhat odd: he did not remove his coat during the four hour-session; he also wore a dog collar around his neck and spoke with an almost inaudible voice.

The 25-year-old said the dog was his “life companion” and insisted that “Blässli was not hurt at all; on the contrary, he is just fine.”

Despite it being against the law, last June Tages Anzeiger reported that an estimated 275,000 people practised zoophilia in Switzerland. The Zurich paper said that 5 percent of Swiss males and 2 percent of Swiss women had sexual relationships with animals.

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