BATON ROUGE (AP) - A Louisiana senator's effort to strengthen anti-bestiality laws is facing unexpected opposition from lawmakers who see it as an underhanded move to strike the state's unconstitutional ban on sodomy.

  

The proposal to create a new, wide-ranging law against bestiality would untangle the crime from the ban on sodomy in Louisiana's "crime against nature " statute. That's causing some lawmakers to label the measure a sly chess move meant to get rid of the anti-sodomy law.

  

But Sen. J.P. Morrell is pushing back, arguing the state's four-word bestiality law is inadequate and needs to include things like mental evaluations and penalties for trafficking animals for sex.

  

Advocates for Morrell's proposal say that in the past three years six states have updated their laws against bestiality.

  

Opponents say current law in Louisiana is fine.