Crush Videos
Crush videos are recordings which typically depict women in stilettos or bare feet literally crushing, stomping on, or impaling small, helpless animals to satisfy the bizarre sexual fetishes of sadistic viewers. AWI worked to help ensure passage of federal legislation intended to stop the trade in these films within the United States and make the underlying acts a federal crime.
The Laws
Even when such practices run afoul of state animal cruelty laws, the actual perpetrators of the acts can be difficult to prosecute, as they seldom show their faces on camera or openly acknowledge participation. Instead, these videos are distributed and sold by third parties—whose acts of disseminating the materials may fall outside the animal cruelty laws. A law was needed to allow the prosecution of those who were making and selling such films—individuals who supported the activity and profited from animal suffering. In 1999, a federal law (PL 106-152) was enacted to prohibit the creation, sale, and possession of depictions of animal cruelty for commercial purposes. In April 2010, however, the US Supreme Court invalidated this law on the grounds that it was overbroad, as it could potentially apply to activities otherwise protected under the First Amendment.
In response, Congress passed the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act (PL 111-294)—a narrower bill focused on crush videos only—which President Obama signed into law on December 10, 2010. This law established a ban on the production, distribution, or sale of videos depicting animal cruelty.
Although the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act prohibits the creation and distribution of crush videos, it does not cover the underlying acts of animal abuse, which can occur beyond the reach of state cruelty laws. To close that loophole, the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act (PL 111-294) was passed by Congress and signed into law on November 25, 2019. To address the horrific actions depicted in crush videos, the PACT Act does the following:
- Defines “animal crushing” as “actual conduct in which 1 or more [animals] is intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury”
- Prohibits intentionally engaging in “animal crushing in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce,” whether or not committed for the purpose of creating a crush video
- Enables federal intervention when the cruelty extends beyond the reach or resources of state prosecutors
- Bans the creation and distribution of crush videos
- Provides for felony charges, fines, and up to seven years in prison
Preventing and punishing such cruelty is both an animal welfare and a public health imperative. More and more, the law enforcement and legal communities recognize that animal cruelty is both a serious crime in and of itself and a correlate of other violent crimes. By providing law enforcement and the criminal justice system with another tool for responding to these unspeakable acts of animal cruelty, the PACT Act protects our communities from many forms of violence.
1. This would include, for example, a puppy mill operator who is engaged in interstate commerce and who drowns unwanted dogs. Exceptions are made, however, for normal veterinary or husbandry practices, hunting, trapping, fishing, predator or pest control, medical or scientific research, and actions to protect human life or property from serious threat.