A reveller tries to hold on to a wild horse during the "Rapa Das Bestas" traditional event in the Spanish northwestern village of Sabucedo July 7, 2012. On the first weekend of the month of July, hundreds of wild horses are rounded up, trimmed and groomed in different villages in the Spanish northwestern region of Galicia.

A reveller tries to hold on to a wild horse during the "Rapa Das Bestas" traditional event in the Spanish northwestern village of Sabucedo July 7, 2012. On the first weekend of the month of July, hundreds of wild horses are rounded up, trimmed and groomed in different villages in the Spanish northwestern region of Galicia. Reuters/Miguel Vidal

Switzerland has an unusual love affair with horses. The equestrian preference is not surprising since the country has a horse population of about 110,000 spread across 18,000 Swiss farms.

Unfortunately, it is not just love for horse races only. Animal rights group Tier im Recht, in a report released this week, says that in 2014, there were 1,709 incidents of animal abuse in Switzerland, up from 1,542 in 2013.

The horse is the favourite animal that Swiss perverts like a romp with. According to a New York Post report, 10 percent of horse maltreatment cases in Switzerland involve people having sex with horses. And it could just be the tip of the iceberg.

The number of horse sexual abuse cases that are not reported to authorities could be higher, Tier im Recht believes. According to the 20 Minuten newspaper, which cites experts, about 10,000 people in the country are presdisposed to zoophilia.

Tier im Recht made a comprehensive analysis of the Swiss Animal Protection Criminal Practice 2014 in a press conference. It points out that the number of animal abuse cases more than tripled in the past 10 year and was five times larger compared to 15 years ago.

The reason behind the rise in cases could be the relative low fine which averaged 300 francs. The canton of Aargau’s average was the highest at 500 francs, followed by the cantons of Zurich, Schwyz and Thurgau with 400 francs, the Basel-Stadt canton CHF 200 francs and Ticino 150 francs.

Bestiality involving horses has also been reported in the US. In February, 45-year-old Cirilo Castillo Jr. was arrested for having sex with a horse, reports The Huffington Post. The incident resulted in his breaking his leg while attempting to have sex with a horse. He had previous arrests for the same offense.

Outside Switzerland and the US, another country where there are known cases of human sex with horses is Brazil. A video sharing site has a post of a woman having sex with a horse. The video has gone viral with almost 30,000 views.

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