Here a Danish animal owner offers his horse to a Danish journalist claiming to be interested in animal sex. PHOTO: 24TIMER

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Neither Denmark nor Norway has a prohibition on sex with animals, as long as the animals do not suffer.

On the Internet Danish animal owners advertise openly that they offer sex with animals, without intervention from police or other authorities, Danish newspaper 24timer reports.

In correspondence with the animal owners, the newspaper was told that the animals involved have many years of experience and that the animals themselves wanted sex. The cost to the client varied from DKK 500-1,000 (USD 85-170).

Legal gray area
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority's section chief for animal welfare, Torunn Knævelsrud, could not rule out that such a bordello could be legal here as well.

"It is difficult to say yes or no," Knævelsrud told Aftenposten.no.

As long as basics like shelter, feed and care are in place, and injury or suffering to the animal can not be documented, there are no other ways to attack an animal bordello under existing Norwegian law.

"It could be that the animals don't really care," Knævelsrud said. "But I think it is in the nature of the case that animals will often be victims of injury, stress or suffering in connection with sexual acts with humans. Either that they are held fast, or frightened, or suffer pain or physical injury," Knævelsrud said.

New legislation?
A new Norwegian Animal Protection Act is underway and there have been proposals, from the Norwegian Animal Welfare Alliance among others, that sexual intercourse with animals must be forbidden.

"The acts provoke moral disgust. The question is whether immorality should be made illegal. The FSA group discussing the new animal protection act has been in disagreement about this," Knævelsrud said.

According to the 24timer report, Germans, Dutchmen, Swedes and Norwegians visit the Danish bordellos, and a web site devoted to bestiality claimed that many of Denmark's animal sex clients stem from Norway.

A farmer who sells animal sex said he is extremely surprised that foreigners are ready to travel so far for it.

"But the clients tell us that it is much simpler to buy animal sex in Denmark than in their own country," a horse owner from Nord-Jylland told the newspaper.

A new dissertation from the Institute of Criminology at the University of Oslo showed that Norwegian veterinarians know of at least 124 cases of animal sex abuse in Norway. The thesis reports that 22 percent of Norwegian veterinarians suspect or are sure that they have treated animals that have been sexually abused by humans.