South Africa: Chicken 'Rapist' Fined £27

A security guard in South Africa has been fined R500 (£27) after he confessed to having sex with a chicken.

Sfiso Sambo was charged with bestiality by the Barberton Magistrate's Court, Mpumalanga province, after admitting to the charge.

The chicken was taken to a veterinarian after the violation, by trainee inspector Eddie Gininda of the Barberton Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), where it was euthanised after it was found that its intestines had become dislodged.

According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) the violence was "indescribably cruel and injurious to the animal" and a "serious indicator of deviant sexual behaviour".

Wendy Wilson of special investigations at the NSPCA said bestiality -- a criminal offence in South Africa -- was more common than people thought.

In a similar case last year, a South African woman was charged with bestiality for having filmed sex scenes with her Labrador and Staffordshire terrier.

The woman, who claimed she was forced to commit the act by her then boyfriend, was instructed to undergo a mental test.

The NSPCA warned that misconceptions, such as having sex with animals to minimise the risk of getting HIV, were likely to result in more animals being sexually violated.

Medical authorities have warned that sex with animals could cause people to contract even worse diseases than HIV.