British man arrested in raid on ‘bestiality farm’

A British tourist, Stephen Clarke, 51, is reported to have been charged with animal cruelty after being arrested during a raid on an alleged 'bestiality farm' in Washington State, on the US Pacific coast, which allegedly catered to people who want to have sex with animals.  
 
Situated in Whatcom County near the Canadian border, the farm was run by a horse trainer and convicted smuggler Douglas Spink. According to the Vancouver Sun, Spink was arrested along with Clarke after investigators followed up an online advertisement for the farm. "They were promoting tourism of this nature for bestiality," said Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo.
 
The police who arrived on the scene first have described what they discovered as "truly bizarre". As well as dozens of dogs and horses, there were mice "that had had their tails cut off, were smothered in Vaseline and had string tied around them". Also found at the scene were images of a man, alleged to be Clarke, having sex with several large-breed dogs.
 
According to Sheriff Elfo, the horses and dogs, which included a Great Dane, have been taken into protective custody while the mice have been euthanized.
 
Clarke is being held in Whatcom County Jail while three possible charges of first-degree animal cruelty are investigated, according to the Bellingham Herald. Spink, who had only recently been released after being caught with 375lb of cocaine, is also in custody.

Both men face jail sentences of up to five years after bestiality was made a Class C felony in Washington State in 2006. This was in response to a local case the previous year in which a 45-year-old man died after having sex with a horse in Enumclaw, Washington. When police searched his property they found hundreds of videos depicting men having sex with horses. ·