A Douglas County [WI] Circuit Court judge used what he termed "common sense" in deciding that the Wisconsin state statute against sexual gratification with animals was not limited to living animals. In a memorandum decision filed Wednesday, Judge Michael Lucci wrote the primary focus of the law was protecting sexual morality in the community, not protecting animals.
"It's essentially the legislature's effort to codify what is legally unacceptable in society with respect to human behavior," he wrote, and as such it would encompass situations "involving even dead animals."
The challenge to the statute's meaning arose when a motion to dismiss the case of Bryan J. Hathaway was filed by his attorney, Public Defender Fredric Anderson. Hathaway, 20, of Superior faces one misdemeanor charge of sexual gratification with an animal for allegedly having sex with a dead deer he spotted while biking along Stinson Avenue in Superior Oct. 11. Anderson argued the case should be dismissed because the statute does not prohibit one from having sex with a carcass.
My earlier posting about Mr. Hathaway's legal trouble is here. Details here from the River Falls Journal.