Zoophilia is broadly defined as the affinity or sexual attraction by a human to a non-human animal. See Wikipedia, Zoophilia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia (describing the emotional and sexual attraction of humans to animals) (as of June 24, 2008, 15:48 GMT). More recently, the term “zoosexuality” has been used to more accurately reflect the full spectrum of a “human/animal orientation.” Id. The term “bestiality” is often used interchangeably with “zoophilia,” though some suggest that this is inaccurate. Id.
In the legal system, the term bestiality is most often used to describe human-animal sexual activity without specifying the requisite sexual act. This is in addition to use of the term “sodomy,” which not only covers sexual acts with animals but also certain human sexual acts. (For more on the history and psychology of zoophilia, please see the above Wikipedia link).
