Washington- A Spanaway man is the first person in Pierce County – and possible the first in the state – charged under a new section of the state’s animal cruelty law that makes bestiality a felony.

Pierce County prosecutors say Michael Patrick McPhail, 26, had sex with his family’s dog Wednesday.

Deputy prosecutor Karen Watson charged the father of two Thursday with one count of first-degree animal cruelty – a crime that could mean up to a year in jail if he’s convicted.

McPhail was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court and a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf.

Judge Katherine Stolz ordered him held in the Pierce County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Stolz set trial for Dec. 11.

According to a Pierce County Sheriff’s Department report, McPhail’s wife told investigators that she caught her husband on the back porch about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday having intercourse with their 4-year-old female pit bull terrier.

She took photos of the act, the report says.

The bestiality law, which took effect in June, was prompted by a case near Enumclaw in which a man died after having sex with a horse.

Before the law was enacted, Washington was one of 14 states where bestiality had not been explicitly prohibited.