Just Horsin’ Around

Paging Charles Darwin. I believe we have an award-winner for you.

A man has pleaded guilty to trespassing in connection with a fatal horse-sex case.

James Michael Tait, 54, of Enumclaw, was accused of entering a barn without the owner's permission. Tait admitted to officers that he entered a neighboring barn last July with friend Kenneth Pinyan to have sex with a horse, charging papers said. Tait was videotaping the episode when Pinyan suffered internal injuries that led to his death.

Tait pleaded guilty Tuesday and was given a one-year suspended sentence, a $300 fine, and ordered to perform eight hours of community service and have no contact with the neighbors.

The prosecutor's office said no animal cruelty charges were filed because there was no evidence of injury to the horses.

“Fatal horse-sex case.” There’s a phrase you don’t hear every day.

As for no evidence of injury to the horses, doesn’t the prosecutor’s office have any regard for the emotional health of the horses? Surely, the Groucho Marx Rule ought to be invoked: Any human who wants to have sex with a horse is someone a horse does not want to have sex with.

Hat tip to Kathy, and a special mention for Coturnix, who noted in her comments thread, in reference to the sentencing provision which prohibits talking to the neighbors, “It does not say anything about talking (sweet nothings) to the neighbors’ mares…”