This week, a court heard how 64-year-old Carol Bowditch was filmed as she had sex with dogs and then their owners at animal sex parties in the UK.

The case exposed the seedy underworld of bestiality and the people who take part in the extreme activity.

The forums where zoo parties – human and animal orgies – are discussed are full of threads with advice for those arranging events for the first time.

One woman describes how her first time was in front of her husband and eight other members of their BDSM group.

She explains how she was tied to a ‘breeding bench’ – a restraint device – and ‘taken’ by a Black Lab as the others watched..

The most sought after locations for zoophile orgies are the discreet ones. Zoophiles often express the desire to find rural sites that are remote enough to ensure privacy but are still accessible for those taking part.

Perversely, looking out for one another appears to be a common theme amongst those arranging parties where they watch each other have sex with animals

Many users suggest setting rules (Picture: Getty)
Many suggest setting rules first and almost all stress the importance of meeting other ‘zoo friends’ – and their animals – in M & Gs (meet and greets) before taking part.

One user stresses the importance of meeting other participants beforehand citing a bad experience in a room surrounded by ‘six random guys’ with ‘very bad personal hygiene’ and ‘poor social skills’

Later he warns ‘just inviting random people off the internet into your house or indeed turning up at [someone’s] house on a promise… It can get extremely weird quickly.’

Another suggests all participants take an STD check before pointing out the ‘really nice’ thing about dogs is that they can’t become infected by human STDs.

Quite often men watch as women have sex with the dogs (Picture: Getty)
The rules are important for a number of reasons, not least because the activities taking place at the parties are highly illegal, at least in the UK.

Just this week, Bowditch was handed a community order for having sex with a St Bernard, a black Labrador and an Alsatian.

Sentencing in the UK

The maximum sentence for sex with an animal in the UK is two years.

Many forums forbid the discussion of a meeting and its locations within the threads, and restrict feedback to simple remarks like ‘had fun at a M&G’.

But still people are brazen enough to make it clear that they want to take part.

In one thread in the UK, a guy explains he is single, ‘into dog and horse perversion’ sex and looking to arrange a ‘private party’.

Owners are encourage to bring their own dogs to the parties (Picture: Getty)
He gets a number of responses including from one amateur photographer who offers to document the proceedings. But the desire for secrecy means the contents of the sex parties are rarely discussed in detail.

Many spell out their fantasies in stories they claim to be pure fiction but occasionally someone shares their experiences.

Other accounts provide a little more detail of the perversions.

One forum member describes attending a party organised by his college admin in the 1970s where he watched as she was mounted by a dog. He recalls she then repeated the act at two later parties.

Website Ex Berliner carries a more detailed description of a party in Essen, Germany, attended by 10 men, four women and two dogs.

Some zoophiles find animal sex parties abhorrent (Picture: Getty)

Why do people have sex with animals?

Research on zoo parties is limited however academics have highlighted several reasons people have sex with animals. 

Dr Mark Griffiths, who is a professor of behavioural addiction at Nottingham Trent University, has written a number of articles on zoophilia. He pointed us to several key studies that have taken place.

The Kinsey Reports – which were published between 1948 and 53 – suggested that 8% of males and 4% of females had at least one sexual experience with an animal.

Professor John Money asserted that zoophilic behaviours were usually transitory occurring when there is no other sexual outlet available.

However, more recent studies have suggested alternative reasons for engaging in sex with animals.

Dr Hani Miletski, who featured in Channel 4 documentary Animal Passions, researched zoophilia for her book Understanding Bestiality & Zoophilia

She found most men (91%) said they had sex with animals because they were attracted to them, had love or affection (75%) or that they were accepting or easy to please (57%).

Only a small portion (7%) said it was because they were too shy to have sex with humans. All women approached said they were sexually attracted to the animal (100%).

A study of 32 zoophiles by Andrea Beetz found some started by getting aroused watching animal matings on TV, while others began by touching the genitals of their pet dog out of curiosity.

Alternatively, a study in the journal Romanian Neurosurgery describes how a 42-year-old suddenly started developing zoophile tendencies towards his hens after an aneurysm in the posterior cerebral artery.

The request was for heterosexual participants but the only one to attempt sex with the animal was the host’s wife, Brigit.

The account describes how the men and their dogs circled the bed as Brigit first played with and then attempted to have sex with a three-year-old Alsatian called Cash.

On that occasion, Cash, is described as ‘jabbing frantically’ for several seconds but failing to penetrate Brigit. The harrowing account continues with Cash wetting the bed twice before being taken for a walk by his owner.

When the pair left, talk in the room turned to how they were concerned the dog was being beaten.

It is difficult to determine parties of this nature take place, but according to one poll of users on the site one in five had experienced sex with ‘nine or more’ at once.

They believe the sex should be by mutual consent only (Picture: Getty)
Whether this is in reference to humans or animals isn’t clear, but one user brags about having sex with 10 ewes and 10 sows in one night.

Another describes how she is in a poly relationship and the dog gets ‘involved now and then’.

US states where bestiality is legal

Ohio (being banned), Hawaii, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming, and the District of Columbia

Indeed, while the site does not actively encourage meet-ups, there is a personal ads section on the forum filled with people seeking to meet other like-minded users.

In the UK the thread is 444 pages long with users explaining their most perverted fantasies and what they are looking to do in real life.

While bestiality has been illegal in Britain for some time, other countries, including a number of US States have a far more relaxed approach.

(Picture: Getty)
It wasn’t until April 2015 that Denmark put in place a sex ban to clamp down on controversial animal sex tourism to the country.

Until the law was passed, sex with animals was still legal as long as the animal was unharmed.

However, activists claimed this was difficult to prove, with the Danish Ethical Council for Animals reporting of animal brothels and organised animal sex shows in the country.

Despite this some remain adamant sex with animals should be allowed.

Zoophile groups such as ZETA (a play on PETA) in Germany tried to argue banning bestiality was unconstitutional and that if an animal was not harmed it was ‘moral law’.

A former member, who has now stepped back from the group, told metro.co.uk it does not organise sex parties or know of any.

Some are adamant sex should only happen with the animal’s consent, and make the distinction between ‘beasts’ – whose focus is sexual gratification – and ‘zoophiles’, who they say genuinely care about the animal’s welfare.

A forum user in Germany called Blackwolf describes how he believes the parties are tantamount to animal abuse and that sex can only happen by mutual consent and must never be forced.

This morality, of course, is entirely taken from the perspective of the animal lover’s sexuality and has failed to convince authorities making it illegal is anything but the right thing to do.