"Mr. Hands"

- Mary Beth

 The documentary "Zoo," was shocking to say the least. The film sheds light on zoophilia, a sexual preference for animals rather than humans. Specifically, it tells the story of "Mr. Hands," a zoophilic who dies as a result of the sexual acts he has committed with a horse.
     I was surprised to find that zoophilics are part of such a social network. Many are members of online groups where they can discuss their sexual preferences with others like themselves. Zoophilics come all different backgrounds. Race, sex, gender, or location are not excluding factors. Social networks dedicated to zoophilics have members from "Poland, Germany, Japan, and even soldiers in Iraq."
    "Mr. Hands" in particular, was from Seattle, Washington. Washington remained one of the only states without laws against bestiality until shortly after his death. Mr. Hands was not an unordinary man. He was an engineer with an ex-wife and son, who he adored. In most aspects of life, Mr. Hands was a very conservative man. Despite the fact that he worked for a big company, he dreamed of becoming a farmer. He became a zoophilic later in life. He retreated to a particular farm we had heard about online to engage in sexual acts with horses under the approval of the owner, who was also immersed into the zoophilic culture. Mr. Hands had videotaped his acts of bestiality when he could, but in the summer of 2005, it would be his last opportunity to document such behavior. After engaging in anal intercourse with an Arabian stallion, he suffered a perforated colon, and bled to death later in the night.
      Mr. Hand's death received abundant media exposure. There were numerous accusations of zoophilia being an act of animal cruelty punishably by federal charges. This scared the farm where the incident took place to the point where they disposed of all tapes documenting the sexual acts with their animals. They knew that their sexual preference was not socially acceptable in society. The farm owner states, "I was evil. I was evil because I had a love for my animals more than most people do."
       There are a number of criticisms pertaining to zoophilia. Some have even compared it to pedophilia in the sense that, like children, "animals cannot consent and they are innocent." To this, famous radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, states, "How do you know the horse didn't consent." As one can see, it is a very controversial issue, that most commonly sides with the act being wrong.  The movie brings up a very good point in the sense that, as humans, we begin to categorize at a very young age, which contributes to what we consider as "good" and "bad." "You're either a good person or a bad person" one zoophilic states, and quite obviously, knows that he is considered bad for his sexual preference.
       Despite the morality behind zoophilia, the brutal reality is that a man bled to death. He was killed performing an act he viewed as loving and natural. Despite the recognition of paraphilias such as zoophilia by the media, shortly after the death of Mr. Hand's death, Washington made bestiality a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Zoophilics must now hide and conceal their expressions of love in fear of discovery and punishment.