Some stories are so bizarre and ridiculous that you couldn’t make them up. Two video companies in the Netherlands are suing the government for lost earnings after animal porn was banned in the country in 2010.

Topscore (makers of such classic titles as Dirty Old Bitch Esmeralda and Horse and Tropical Dog in Heat) and Studio Martis (whose output remains unidentified) claim to have lost millions (!) since the ban was imposed, and also claim that most of their work was made before the draft legislation was drawn up in 2007 – and that they are therefore due compensation for having to withdraw previously legal material. Others might suggest that they'd got away with profiting from their dubious productions for far too long as it was and that they should simply shut up and be grateful that they are not in prison like Ira Isaacs or various hapless people in the UK.

According to Dutch newspaper The Telegraaf, the two companies were responsible for 60% of the world’s animal porn production. And as any visitor to Amsterdam before the ban could tell you, their products were widely available, even proudly displayed in shop windows. But who knew they were so prolific? And does this suggest that there was a wide and steady market for such stuff? The mind boggles.

Quite what the Dutch government and population think about the idea of shelling out large sums of money to animal pornographers is anyone’s guess.