Previously, the lower house of the Spanish Parliament approved the Animal Welfare Law, which is awaiting final approval in the Senate.

The law was introduced by Spain’s Minister for Social Rights, Jone Belara, who promoted it as intended to protect the welfare of animals, whether pets or wild animals.

Amendments to the Animal Protection Act foresee imprisonment and fines of up to 50,000 euros for killing rats at home, but also a fine of up to 200,000 euros if the female becomes pregnant and the owner is not registered as a dog breeder.

The law would ban the sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores, the keeping of dogs and cats indoors, and the keeping of certain animals as pets.

These include spiders, non-Spanish birds such as parrots and pigeons, hedgehogs, turtles, lizards, snakes and chameleons. Rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, mice and hamsters are not on the list of permitted animals.

Zoos and dolphinariums would also be turned into native species recovery centers, and the use of wild animals in circuses or other cultural performances would be banned.

The law does not mention bullfighting, which the Spanish government believes should be considered separately as a cornerstone of Spanish culture.

Many countries have recently passed laws prohibiting sex with animals, so zoophilia is banned in New Hampshire, Ohio, Germany, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Thailand, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Guatemala.

The number of countries in the world banning sex with animals increased in the 2000s and 2010s.

In the UK, the “Extreme Pornography Act” of 2008 bans images of people performing or appearing to perform a sexual act with an animal (whether dead or alive), while Germany legalized bestiality in 1969, only to ban it again in 2013.

Zoophilia in the US is outlawed in 48 states, with most state animal cruelty laws enacted between 1999 and 2022.

Until 2005, there was a farm near Enumclaw, Washington that was described as an “animal brothel,” where people paid to have sex with animals.