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| '''Human–animal marriage''' is not recognized in law by any country, although attempts to [[marriage|marry]] animals have been recorded. | | '''Human–animal marriage''' is not recognized in law by any country, although attempts to [[marriage|marry]] animals have been recorded. |
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| ==Notable cases==
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| In June 2003, a nine-year-old [[India]]n girl of the [[Santhal people|Santal]] (or 'Santhal') tribe of [[Khanyhan]], near [[Calcutta]] was formally married to a dog, in order to ward off a bad [[omen]]. The wedding was attended by more than one hundred guests, who danced to the beating of drums and drank home-made liquor. The girl told [[Western world|Western]] press, "I have no regret in marrying the dog. I will take care of this dog who was stray and survived on left-overs," tribal elders added she was free to remarry a human in future as an adult.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3004930.stm | work=BBC News | title=Girl weds dog to break 'evil spell' | date= 2003-06-19}}</ref>
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| In January 2004, a woman known as "The Mad Cat Lady" married both her tabby twin boys Lugosi and Spider via MarryYourPet.com, from whom she then received an (unofficial) certificate of marriage. She and her cats have since been featured in various newspaper articles including [[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6210642/Woman-marries-her-beloved-moggies-in-holy-catrimony.html |title=Holy Catrimony|work=[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]|date=24 December 2014|accessdate=2 January 2015}}</ref> and Metro.<ref name= 'metro'>{{cite news|url= http://metro.co.uk/2014/12/24/woman-marries-her-two-cats-and-she-has-the-certificate-to-prove-it-4998236/ |title=Woman marries her two cats – and she has the certificate to prove it|work=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]|date=24 December 2014|accessdate=2 January 2015}}</ref> She told "I realised no human had ever or could ever make me feel as happy and loved as them."<ref name='metro'/>
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| In January 2006, [[British people|British]] woman Sharon Tendler in Israel married Cindy, a [[male]] [[bottlenose dolphin]]. Cindy was taken in 1990 from the [[Black Sea]] to the Dolphin Reef [[dolphinarium]] in [[Eilat, Israel]], in the [[Gulf of Aqaba]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dolphinreef.co.il/Default.aspx?tabid=27|title=The Dolphins|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809230329/http://dolphinreef.co.il/Default.aspx?tabid=27|archivedate=9 August 2013}}</ref> There, Tendler saw him during a show. She continued visiting for 15 years before she requested permission for the "wedding" in 2005.<ref name="TheAge">{{Citation | place = [[Australia|AU]] | url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/woman-weds-dolphin/2005/12/30/1135732715098.html | title = Woman weds dolphin | newspaper = [[The Age]] | date = December 30, 2005}}</ref> Permission was granted and the ceremony was held on December 28 of that year.<ref name="Anova">{{Citation | url = http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1664667.html | title = Woman marries Dolphin | newspaper = [[Anova]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060101061903/http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1664667.html?|archivedate=Jan 1, 2006}}</ref> Tendler stated that "the peace and tranquility under water, and his love, would calm me down,"<ref name=TheAge/> and that she loved him.<ref name=TheAge2/> Tendler herself admitted that the marriage had no legal standing<ref name="TheAge2">{{Citation | url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/woman-marries-dolphin/2006/01/01/1136050339590.html | title = Woman marries dolphin | newspaper = [[The Age]] | place = AU | date = January 2, 2006}}</ref> and that the ceremony was, in her own words, "a bit of fun" after her friends joked about her being single at the age of 41.<ref name="IlfordRecorder">{{Citation | url = http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/content/redbridge/recorder/news/story.aspx?brand=RECOnline&category=newsIlford&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsilford&itemid=WeED05%20Jan%202006%2012%3A19%3A50%3A420 | title = Fishy tale of woman who 'wed' dolphin | newspaper = Ilford Recorder | date = January 5, 2006|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930150508/http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/content/redbridge/recorder/news/story.aspx?brand=RECOnline&category=newsIlford&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsilford&itemid=WeED05%20Jan%202006%2012:19:50:420|archivedate=September 30, 2007}}</ref> The marriage was non-exclusive. Cindy was the father of all of the dolphins born in the sea,<ref name="Ynetnews">{{Citation | url = http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3264387,00.html | title = Dolphin married to British Jew dies | newspaper = [[Ynetnews]] | date = June 18, 2006}}</ref> and Tendler kept open the option of "marrying human", but was strictly a "one dolphin woman".<ref name=TheAge2/> As Cindy is normally a woman's name, it has been mistakenly stated that the marriage was a [[same-sex marriage]].<ref name = "OReilly">{{Citation | url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180673,00.html | title = Talking Points: The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day | author-link = Bill O'Reilly (commentator)| first = William ‘Bill’ | last = O'Reilly | newspaper = [[Fox News Channel|Fox News]] | date = January 6, 2006}}</ref> After three weeks of poor health, Cindy died on June 18, 2006, less than a year after the marriage.<ref name =Ynetnews />
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| In February 2006 a [[Sudan]]ese man named Charles Tombe caught having sex with a neighbour's [[goat]] which was subsequently nicknamed [[Rose (goat)|Rose]], was ordered by the council of [[Elder (administrative title)|elder]]s to pay the neighbour a [[dowry]] of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($75) and marry the animal.<ref>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4748292.stm | work = BBC News | title= Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat | date = 2006-02-24 | accessdate= 2010-05-04}}</ref>
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| In June 2006 an [[India]]n woman from [[Bhubaneswar]], [[Orissa]], fell in love with a snake and was married to them at a "traditional Hindu wedding celebrated by 2,000 guests".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-06-02/india/27825949_1_snake-orissa-woman-marriage|title=Orissa woman marries snake|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=2 June 2006|accessdate=8 October 2013}}</ref> She claimed that a bond of understanding existed between the two. The woman had previously been ill, and recovered upon offering milk to the snake, at which time she fell in love. She later "converted to the animal-loving vegetarian [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnav]] sect whose local elders gave her permission to marry the [[cobra]].".<ref>{{cite news|title=Charmed woman marries snake !|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/NM11/Charmed-woman-marries-snake/Article1-104879.aspx|accessdate=13 October 2012|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=June 2, 2006|agency=Agence France-Presse|location=Bhubaneswar}}</ref> A 2007 investigation by ''[[Harper's]]'' magazine journalist [[Mischa Berlinski]] suggested that the snake may not even have existed, and that the incident may have been stage-managed as part of a local power struggle between Vaishnav religious leaders.<ref>Mischa Berlinski, "[http://harpers.org/archive/2007/11/woman-marries-snake/3/ Woman marries snake: A peculiar Indian love story]", ''Harper's'', Nov. 2007, pp 41–52.</ref>
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| ==Folklore, myth and popular culture==
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| A [[Culture of China|Chinese]] folktale, sometimes known as ''The Silkworm'', tells how [[silk]] originated following the King's daughter spiritually marrying a horse, in completion of a promise made in times of trouble. In the tale, the princess was reborn as a [[silkworm]], a creature whose appearance and mannerisms superficially were said to resemble that of a horse. (From Chonsol Ttara Samch'olli, retold by Heinz Insu Fenkl) <ref>[http://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Chinese_Folktale_36.html The Girl with the Horse's Head or the Silkworm Goddess]</ref>
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| A [[Cheyenne]] myth "The Girl Who Married a Dog", states that the group of seven stars known as the [[Pleiades]] originated from seven puppies which a Cheyenne chief's daughter gave birth to after mysteriously being visited by a dog in human form to whom she vowed "Wherever you go, I go".<ref>[http://www.native-languages.org/cheyennestory3.htm The Girl Who Married A Dog]</ref>
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| In some parts of [[Celt]]ic [[Ireland]], Sudan (often called "sacred kings") had to wed the local [[goddess]] of the land. A [[druid]]ess was usually chosen to represent the land goddess as the king's wife, but one mythological king in [[Donegal]] is said to have married a horse, a representative of their local [[goddess]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.thinkquest.org/C0116903/society/classes.htm|title= Celtic Social Classes |publisher=Roots of the Ancients|accessdate=7 October 2013}}</ref>
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| ==See also== | | ==See also== |
