BREAKING NEWS! Makers of Cruel ‘Crush’ Videos Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

Earlier today, a Philippine court found La Union residents Vicente and Dorma Ridon—who have been in jail during their trial since June 2012—guilty of child abuse, animal welfare crimes, human trafficking, and wildlife-protection crimes for forcing girls to torture and kill puppies, rabbits, and other animals in “fetish” videos.

PETA Asia worked with authorities to ensure that the Ridons were located, arrested, and prosecuted. The Ridons, who have been sentenced to life imprisonment, also received a fine totaling over 9 million pesos each for their part in making the videos, in which scantily clad girls—one of whom was just 12 years old at the time—were filmed skinning a dog alive and burning another with a clothes iron, cutting off rabbits’ ears and setting the rabbits on fire while they flailed and screamed, hitting a monkey in the eye with the sharp end of a stiletto heel, and crushing puppies until they vomited their own internal organs. Sexual fetishists from Australia, France, Korea, Malaysia, the U.K., the U.S., and elsewhere purchased the videos on the Internet, and all face the possibility of being charged.

The Ridons were arrested at the conclusion of a yearlong investigation undertaken by the National Bureau of Investigation after PETA notified the authorities of their crimes.

The Ridons’ sentence is a warning to anyone involved in the vile crush video industry: There are grave consequences for harming animals. It’s people like you who helped make this conviction possible. PETA was made aware of these horrible videos by a compassionate person who stumbled upon them and took the time to report it. Never be silent about cruelty to animals.

Posted by Jason Baker