THE CRIMINALIZATION OF ZOOPHILIA IN CHILE

Regulatory deficit, public health and protection of animals as sentient beings

Abstract

This paper analyzes the normative deficit of the Chilean legal system regarding zoophilia and bestiality, arguing that, despite the evolution from a patrimonial conception of animals to their recognition as “living and sentient beings” in Law No. 20,380, Criminal Law has not developed a coherent and autonomous response to sexual violence against them. After conceptually defining both behaviors from psychological and criminological perspectives, highlighting the structural impossibility of the animal's consent and the power imbalance, it argues that their current subsumption under the general crime of animal abuse in Article 291 bis of the Criminal Code is dogmatically insufficient, as it dilutes their specificity and, in practice, requires proof of harm or suffering.