Zoophilia: Another Sexual Orientation?

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Web End = Arch Sex Behav (2017) 46:3942 DOI 10.1007/s10508-016-0891-3

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Zoophilia: Another Sexual Orientation?

Hani Miletski1

Received: 11 October 2016 / Accepted: 20 October 2016 / Published online: 10 November 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Setos (2016) all-encompassing denition of sexual orientationresonateswithme.Asasextherapistinprivatepractice, I have worked with many individuals who hada stable tendency to preferentially orientin terms of attention, interest, attraction, and genital arousalto (many) particular classes of sexual stimuli.I have worked with pedophiles, nepiophiles, hebephiles, ephebophiles, gerontophiles, and with many individuals with other paraphilias. I see it in my practice over and over againeven when these individuals want to change, and they try very hard to change, they cannot change their feelings and their physiological reactions when faced with their specic class of sexual stimuli. Their responses are akin to a sexual orientation.

My Study on Sexual Orientation Toward Animals

In the mid-1990s, when I worked with Christian (not his real name), who sought help for his inability to stop having sex with dogs, I was intrigued. Christian would let dogs in his neighborhood mount him and perform anal sex on him. He knew it wasnt right, but he couldnt stop. At that point, there were almost no data about bestiality and zoophilia, and the Internet was in its infancy. I ended up conducting an exploratory, descriptive study, which is chronicled in my book Understanding Bestiality and Zoophilia (Miletski, 2002), as well as in several professional articles (Miletski, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2015).

I designed a 350-item questionnaire, including many open-ended questions in an attempt to gather as much data as I could about this phenomenon. Attending azoo(as they like tobe called) gathering, and conducting two focus groups while there, helped me gure out what questions to ask. I further wanted to developsomehypothesesastowhatmotivateshumanstoengage in sexual relations with animals. More specically, I wanted toknow whether therewasa sexual orientation towardanimals.

Christian, who was mostly heterosexual with humans, told me that when he saw a woman walking her (big) dog, his eyes would immediately focus on the dog. If the dog had certain features that he liked, Christian would get sexually aroused. Christian was known for his strong willpower. At some point in his life, he washeavy into alcohol and drugs.Then, one day, hestopped everything cold turkey.He had no problem doing that, but he could not stop having sex with dogs.

The questionnaires were sent out via snail mail to 150 individuals who made telephone or personal contact with me, and provided me with their postal address. The majority of them (73 %) heard about the study from otherzoosthrough the Internet. Eleven women and 82 men between the ages of 19 and 78 completed the questionnaires and mailed them back. The participants were not the stereotypical adolescent, farm boy of the Kinsey, Pomeroy, and Martin (1948) study. In my study, the average age of the men was 38 years, and the average age of the women was 36 years.

Allthewomenand87 percentofthemenwerefromtheU.S. ConcurringwithKinseyetal.(1948)andwithKinsey,Pomeroy, Martin, and Gebhard (1953), who concluded that people who have sex with animals are often more educated than the general population,almosthalfthemen(48 %)andwomen(45 %)inmy studywerecollegegraduatesorabove.Therewerethreedoctors inthe sample, a Seminary graduate, and onlythree participants who had not completed high school.

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Earls and Lalumiere (2007) described their surprise when they found out that some zoos are highly educated professionals. In my study, there were ve people inmedical elds,six engineers, two college professors, two counselors, and one physicist. Thirteen men worked in acomputer-related eld and seven participants were in ananimal-related eld.

Twenty-seven(29 %)participantsweremarriedatthetime of the study, and 12 (13 %) participants were divorced. Four men noted they were married or in an intimate relationship with their animal lover. At the time of the study, 21 men and one woman reported being married, living with their spouse, and having sex with animals at the same time.

All the women and 52 (63 %) men had their rst animal sexual experience with a dog: eight women and 35 men with a male dog. Fourteen men had their rst animal sexual experience with a horse, 10 of them with a mare. At the time of the study, 68 men were having sex with animals 2.96 times per week, fromonceayeartothreetimesaday.Ninewomenwere having sex with animals 1.80 times per week, from once a month to once a day. All the women and the majority of the men had sexual relations with male dogs.

Although my study could not be representative of the zoo community, and it had its inherent aws,my study nonetheless resultedinabundantandrichdataaboutthelifeandbehaviorof its participants. Most of the data, such as the participants sexual histories, their sexual behaviors with animals, and their lifestyles, are beyond the scope of this commentary. My focus here is on the question: Is zoophilia a sexual orientation?

For the purpose of my study, I adapted the denition of sexual orientationfrom Francoeur (1991) in his discussion of homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality. According to this denition, sexual orientation consists of three interrelatedaspects:(1)affectionalorientationwhoorwhatwebond with emotionally; (2) sexual fantasy orientationwith whom or what we fantasize having sex; and (3) erotic orientation with whom or what we prefer to have sex. The questionnaire in mystudyconsistedofavarietyofquestionsattemptingtogather information about these three major aspects of the participants relations to animals.

Affectional Orientation Toward Animals

The majority of men (60 %) and women (67 %) reported they began having sex with animals because (they) wanted to express love or affection to the animal.The majority of men (74 %) and women (67 %) reported they were having sex with animalsatthetimeofthestudybecausetheywantedtoexpress love or affection to the animal.This wasreason number two (after sexual attraction) for both men and women, for why they were currently having sexual relations with animals.

Seventy-one men realized they were psychologically/emotionallyattractedtoanimalsat anaverageage of11.5years,and 10 women reported they were psychologically/emotionally attracted to animals at an average age of 8.4 years. This is comparable to what is observed for heterosexual and homosexual men and women (Bell, Weinberg, & Hammersmith, 1981; McClintock&Herdt,1996;Savin-Williams&Diamond,2000). Of the 11 men who did not respond to this question, eight commented that they had never been psychologically/emotionally attracted to animals (these included four men who said, in other questions, that they were not sexually attracted to animals).

Seven men and three women related that they would not allowotherpeopletohavesexwiththeiranimalsbecausethey regarded their animals as mates. Another seven men described love and/or jealous feelings for their animals as their reason for why they would not allow others to have sex with their animals.

The majorityof men(78 %)and women (73 %)inthe study seemed to be bothbestialistsandzoophiles/zoosexuals. Some of the participants noted, A person who has sexual relations with an animal is a bestialist by denition and a person who has a love of animals is a zoophile (or zoosexual). Onlyeightmen(11 %)inthesampleappearedtoqualifyforthe denitionbestialist only,since they seemed to have sex with animalsonlyforthesakeofsex.Oneofthemcommented:Just a matter of convenient sexual outlet for me.

Others described their love for their animals. For example: I dene myself as a zoophile because my relationships with animals are about love and trustsex is merely an expression of that loveorI dont just value the sex. I love and cherish my animal partners as I would a human partner.

Sexual Fantasies About Animals

Themajorityofmen(70 %)andwomen(64 %)reportedhaving sexual fantasies about having sex with animals before their rst sexual encounter with an animal, similarly to what has been reported for heterosexual and homosexual people (Bell et al., 1981;McClintock&Herdt,1996;Savin-Williams&Diamond, 2000). Moreover, the majority of men (76 %)primarilyor alwaysfantasized about having sex with animals. This fantasy was far more common than any other sexual fantasy reported by the men. Only four men reported that theynever fantasized about it, and three of them reported in subsequent questions that they no longer engaged in sexual relations with animals.The second most prevalent sexual fantasy for the men wasWatching other humans have sex with animals(35 %), followed byHaving sex with a woman(28 %).

Almost half the women (45 %) also fantasizedprimarily or always about having sex with animals. The only other

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common sexual fantasies mentioned by the women involved watching other humans have sex with animals (40 %) and having sex with a man (27 %).

Erotic Orientation Toward Animals

Seventy-eight men and all 11 women stated that they realized they were rst sexually attracted to animals at an average age of 13 years. Once again, similar ndings have been reported in studies of heterosexual and homosexual individuals (Bell et al., 1981; McClintock & Herdt, 1996; Savin-Williams & Diamond,2000).Themajorityofmen(76%)andwomen(70 %) related that theybegan having sex with animals because (they were) sexually attracted to the animal. This was the number one reason they provided as their motive for initiating sexual relations with animals. In response to another open-ended question, 15 men (19%) and one woman listed sexual attraction to the animal as the motivating factor in their rst sexual encounter with an animal.

The majority of men (91 %) and women (100 %) reported they were having sex with animals at the time of the study because they were sexually attracted to the animal.Again, this wasreason number onethe participants listed as their motive for having sexual relations with animals.

Elsewhere in the questionnaire, 19 men (27 %) and three women (38 %) reported believing that bestiality was not a perversion because for them it was the natural thing to do and/or it was like a sexual orientation.The majority of men (85 %) and women (73 %) reported they did not want to stop having sex with animals, mostly because zoophilia was part of who they were, and they liked it.

It is also interesting to note that nine men commented (throughout the questionnaire) about their attraction to animals pheromones. For example, one of them related:

I enjoy stimuli that are not often found in human sexual relationships; for example, I am highly turned on by

olfactory stimuli,and humansbyconvention rarely allow themselves to have any natural human aroma. Articial perfumes leave me completely cold, as do conventional standardsofattractivenessandbeauty.Thereissome-thing altogether more straightforward and earthy in the experience of animal sex, and it is that which I seek in my sexual activities.

Another man commented that hisorder of sexual preference isconsistentwiththesexualappealofaspeciessexualfragrance. I view this is an example of sexual/chemical attraction on a very basic/biological level.

ThequestionHowwouldyourlifebedifferentifyouhad a close intimate/sexual relationship with a human being? generated some illuminating responses, such as:I am zoo exclusive and the very thought of having sex with a human disgusts me. Ask a homosexual if he wants to have sex with someone of the opposite gender.

Is There a Sexual Orientation Toward Animals?

The participants in my study were asked to rate themselves on a Kinsey-like scale, describing their sexual inclinations toward humans versus animals. They were instructed to take into consideration both actual sexual behavior and fantasy. Table 1 depicts their responses.

The data show that more than half of the men (58 %) perceived themselves as having more sexual inclinations toward animals than humans (between 4 and 6). The majority of the women(82 %)perceivedthemselvesasbeingsexuallyinclined to both humans and animals (between 2 and 4).

The replies to this question, supported by other related responses,suggestthatdifferentpeoplehavedifferentlevelsof sexual orientation toward animals. The majority of the participants reported they had feelings of love and affection for their animals, had sexual fantasies about them, and admitted they

Table 1 Participants self-reported sexual inclinations toward humans versus animals

Sexual inclination Men (n = 81) Women (n = 11)

0 = Exclusively with human beings 2 = 2 % 0

1 = Only incidental animal sex 6 = 7 % 1 = 9 %

2 = Both animal sex and human sex, but more human sex 14 = 17 % 4 = 36 %

3 = Equally animal and human sex 12 = 15 % 3 = 27 %

4 = Both animal sex and human sex, but more animal sex 15 = 19 % 2 = 18 %

5 = Only incidental human sex 22 = 27 % 1 = 9 %

6 = Exclusively animal sex 10 = 12 % 0

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were sexually attracted to animals. In fact, 10 men self-reported being sexually oriented exclusively to animals.

Other Studies

Beetz (2002, 2005) studied 113 men and three women who volunteered to answer a set of questionnaires, including personality tests. The questionnaires were sent and returned online. In addition, Beetz conducted detailed interviews with 36 men and three women, 22 of them in person.

Thirty-ve percent of Beetzs participants came from the USA, while 32 percent came from Germany. The average age of the men was 30 years, and about 70 percent had at least some college education. At the time of data collection, only 21 percent of the men livedin a stable relationship with a human partner. The majority (60 %) of participants had sex with male dogs.

More than half (57.5 %) of the men indicated they had sexual relations with animals becauseit is innate.Thirty percent reported thatanimals are better lovers.Twenty-four percent of the participants had never had any sexual experiences with humans, and 25 percent indicated they were not interested in havingsexwitheithermenorwomen.Morethanhalf(57 %)of thesamplereportedsexwithanimalswasmoreimportantthan, or was preferred to, sex with humans. Seventy-six percent of the participants reported their relationship with animals was like the relationship others have with a human partner. The personality tests Beetz conducted revealed that the participants were not antisocial, and 34.5 percent of the participants reported being active in animal protection organizations.

Williams and Weinbergs (2003) study of 114 men was conductedonline withspecial passwords.Ninety-onepercent of the menlived in the U.S. They were all Caucasian,and their agesrangedbetween 18and 70 years, witha median age of27. The majority (83 %) of the men had at least some college education, and64 percent were single, nevermarried. The majority (63 %)oftheparticipantshadsexwithdogs,andtheresearchers noted a relationship between the classication of the participants sexualorientationandthegender ofthe animalsfor whom they reported having strong sexual feelings.

Seventeen percent of the men never had any sexual experiences with humans, and 13 percent indicated they were not sexually interested in either men or women. Sex with animals was more important than, or was preferred to, sex with humans for more than two-thirds of the sample.

Conclusion

Sexual orientation is obviously a complex concept. However, by conceptualizing sexual orientation as three interrelated aspects, as discussed in Francoeur (1991), my study suggests there may be a sexual orientation toward animals. Supported

by Beetz (2002, 2005) and Williams and Weinberg (2003), it appears there are individuals who are in love with their animals, they have sexual fantasies about them (even before their initial sexual encounter with animals), and they admit to being sexually attracted to animals. Most importantly, my study identied 10 individuals who were exclusively sexually oriented toward animals.

I welcome Setos proposition that individuals may be sexuallyorientedtovariousspecicclassesofsexualstimuli.Different chronophiliasreectvariationsofsexualorientationsbasedonthe ageofthehumanstimuli.Zoos(zoophiles,zoosexuals)reecta variation of sexual orientation based on the stimulus being a non-human animal, most commonly, canine.

References

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