It is done: The bill to criminalize sexual abuse of animals has been signed into law!
Yesterday, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 215, unanimously approved by the New Mexico Legislature, into law—which means effective June 16, 2023, bestiality will finally be illegal in New Mexico. We are grateful to all of the policymakers, leaders, and advocates who were a part of this campaign to make bestiality a serious crime. With the signing of SB 215, West Virginia remains the only US state in which bestiality remains legal.
Animal Protection Voters was proud to lead the charge to pass SB 215 after concerned New Mexicans alerted us to multiple recent alarming internet ads seeking animals to sexually abuse, which referenced specifically that New Mexico lacked anti-bestiality laws. It was undisputable proof that bestiality has continued to occur and proliferate in New Mexico and far past time to put an end to it. SB 215 will not only protect animals from sexual abuse, but also close a gap in law enforcement that has risked letting sexual abusers of both animals and children off the hook.
That’s not all: The bill to rescue homeless and abused horses and keep them out of the auction-to-slaughter pipeline was also signed!
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham also signed Senate Bill 271 yesterday, ensuring that all equines (horses, donkeys, mules, hinnies, and ponies) who are in the custody of the state or law enforcement or subject to court-ordered disposition in a cruelty case will first be offered to New Mexico’s 12 currently registered equine rescue organizations before being sent to auction. Animal Protection Voters was proud to push for SB 271on behalf of our state’s wonderful equine rescue community, who already face rising feed costs and whose donations and volunteers are increasingly stretched thin. This bill will ensure that they can step up to save, rehabilitate, and either adopt our or provide sanctuary for equines in need without trying to outbid slaughterhouse ‘kill-buyers’ in an auction.
Thank you for your ongoing support that makes this work possible! But as you know, there is so much left to do.
Animal Protection Voters keeps a long “to-do list” of laws and policies that New Mexico needs to create a more humane future—these ideas come from advocates like you! But we need more support to help us fight these fights, which are often years-long campaigns and battles. Your donations are what opens the doors to a better path forward for animals.
Here’s the good news: Our annual Laws & Paws fundraiser starts TOMORROW and it’s gearing up to be bigger than ever! That means more power for pro-animal policies into the future. But you don’t have to wait until tomorrow to donate—make a difference TODAY!
