Sexual relations between a human being and an animal.
At Common Law, bestiality was considered a crime against nature and was punishable by death.
Today, it is prohibited by statutes in most states as a form of Sodomy. The penalty for committing the offense is a fine, imprisonment, or both.
n. copulation by a human with an animal, which is a crime in all states as a "crime against nature." (See: crime against nature)