German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) addresses a session of the Bundestag, German lower house of parliament, at the Reichstag in Berlin Sept. 12, 2012. (Reuters/FABRIZIO BENSCH)

Germany is just now mulling a ban on bestiality.

The German parliament's agriculture committee is considering legislation that would make it illegal to have sex with an animal. Under the proposed law, anyone convicted would be fined up to $30,000.

Germany legalized bestiality, or what proponents call zoophilia, in 1969 except in cases where animals suffer "significant harm."

Animal rights groups are happy with the new legislation.

"Finally, the sexual abuse of animals prohibited," Thomas Schroeder, president of German Animal Welfare, told the Tageszeitung newspaper.

But a group called Zoophile Engagement for Tolerance and Information (Zeta) says it plans to fight any new anti-bestiality laws in court.

"It is unthinkable that any sexual act with an animal is punished without proof that the animal has come to any harm," Zeta chairman Michael Kiok told the BBC, adding that he believes animals can show consent.

The lower house will vote on the law Dec. 14