Bestiality brothels are 'spreading through Germany' warns campaigner as abusers turn to sex with animals as 'lifestyle choice'



Animal welfare officer Madeleine Martin problem of 'erotic zoos' is growing

She tells of farmer whose once friendly sheep began refusing human contact

So when he put CCTV in his barn he watched men file in and abuse his herd



Bestiality brothels are spreading through Germany faster than ever thanks to a law that makes animal porn illegal but sex with animals legal, a livestock protection officer has warned.



Madeleine Martin told the Frankfurter Rundschau that current laws were not protecting animals from predatory zoophiles who are increasingly able to turn to bestiality as a 'lifestyle choice'.



She highlighted one case where a farmer in the Gross-Gerau region of southwest Germany, noticed his once friendly flock of sheep were beginning to shy away from human contact.

Shock discovery: Ms Martin told of one case where a farmer rigged a CCTV camera in the rafters of his barn after finding his normally friendly sheep refusing human contact, to discover multiple men sneaking in in the dead of night to sexually abuse his beloved livestock

So he rigged a CCTV camera in the rafters of his barn to discover multiple men sneaking in during the night to sexually abuse his beloved livestock.

'There are now animal brothels in Germany,' Martin told the paper, adding that people were playing down the issue by by describing it as a 'lifestyle choice'.

Armed with a host of similar case studies, Ms Martin is now calling for the government to categorically ban bestiality across the country.



Defenceless: There are even 'erotic zoos' which people can visit to abuse animals ranging from llamas to goats

Last November German authorities said they were planning to reinstate an old law forbidding sex with animals after a sharp rise in incidents of bestiality along with websites promoting it.

Parliament began debating changes to the national Animal Protection Code with the agricultural committee of the Bundestag pledging fines of up to £20,000 for a first offence.

Bestiality dropped off the statute books as a crime in 1969 but in recent years the number of people believed to be participating in such acts has increased significantly.

There are even 'erotic zoos' which people can visit to abuse animals ranging from llamas to goats.

Hans-Michael Goldmann, chairman of the agriculture committee, said the government aimed to forbid using an animal 'for individual sexual acts and to outlaw people 'pimping' creatures to others for sexual use.'

German 'zoophile' group ZETA has announced it will mount a legal challenge should a ban on bestiality become law.

'Mere concepts of morality have no business being law,' said ZETA chairman Michael Kiok.

When the 1969 law banning sex with animals was banned the Animal Protection Law was introduced, but it failed to include a specific ban on zoophilia.