A 22 year old Phoenix man was arrested by Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office animal crimes detectives on Tuesday night on charges of conspiracy to commit bestiality after he placed an ad on Craigslist seeking a horse on which to commit the act of fellatio.
According to Sheriff’s detectives, Donald Waelde, who self-identifies as transgendered, according to the Sheriff’s office, placed an ad on Craigslist’s missed connections section in early April stating, “I want to play with a horse. Simple as that. If you have a horse and I can have access to it….I will do something in return.”
A visitor to the craigslist website, who has a genuine interest in horses, was so disgusted by the ad that he contacted the Sheriff’s Office. An investigation began that quickly culminated in Tuesday’s arrest of Waelde.
In the undercover investigation, Sheriff’s deputies contacted the suspect and engaged Waelde in conversation where the suspect stated the sex act he wished to perform on the horse and agreed to meet the undercover detective on Tuesday.
On April 22, Waelde met up with the undercover detective in the Anthem area who brought along an MCSO Mounted Posse horse as a prop. The suspect was immediately taken into custody where he admitted to placing the ad and stated his intentions to consummate the act. A search warrant of his home on West Union Hills Drive was executed.
This is the fourth bestiality case conducted by the Sheriff’s Office since 2011 where the suspects have used Craigslist to attempt to find an animal with which to engage, Arpaio says. Letters to the website’s CEO from the Sheriff have gone answered.
Arpaio, a longtime animal advocate, was instrumental in the 2006 passage of Arizona law making bestiality a crime.