Experts fear that there could be a sharp rise of sex attacks on horses.

Animal rights activists in Switzerland say there are up to 10,000 people with sexual feelings towards the animals.

Last year there were 1,709 incidences of animal cruelty with one horse abused every three days, according to animal rights group Tier im Recht.

Andreas Rüttimann said: Compared with cases concerning other species, prosecutions for crimes committed against horses a strikingly high percentage relate to zoophilia offenses.’

He told 20min.ch that one in 10 horse cruelty cases involved sexual contact. Normally, he added, people were more likely to abuse their dogs but the number of horses being targeted is on the rise.