Senate Votes to Crush Animal Cruelty Fetish Industry

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill designed to outlaw crush videos — graphic and sexually-inclined depictions of small animals being crushed and trampled. The practice of creating and distributing crush videos had been illegal in the United States for ten years, effectively wiping out the industry, until the Supreme Court overturned the existing law in April.

Following a flurry of legislative activity, a crush video ban passed the U.S. House this summer, and a similar bill, sponsored by Senators Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Jeff Merkely (D-Ore.) was fast-tracked in the Senate.

What we've got right now are two similar, but not identical bills, and while both are good, the Senate bill gives the law even more teeth than the already-good House version. So what makes the Senate version better for animals? Here are five ways:

1. Both bills make it illegal to distribute crush videos, but the Senate version also makes it illegal to create them. By going after both producers and sellers, we have a better chance of shutting the entire industry down again.
2. The Senate version also touches on another disgusting practice — bestiality — and creates a way to go after some offenders in that genre of filth as well.
3. While the House version requires proof that a crush video was intended for commercial purposes, the Senate's does not. If you make it, and even if you post it on the Internet for free, it's still illegal.
4. The Senate bill includes a prohibition on distributing crush videos made overseas in the U.S., something the House version overlooked.
5. And finally, an important but perhaps not-obvious point. The Senate version provides a "safe haven" for transmission of suspected crush videos to law enforcement. In practical terms, the process of turning in a crush video producer isn't accidentally made illegal. Similarly, if you happened to catch someone on tape abusing an animal, and immediately gave the tape to the cops as evidence, you couldn't be prosecuted for "making a crush video." It seems like a pretty self-evident thing, but the Senate version makes it pretty clear, and that's a good thing.

The only problem now is the timing. With Congress heading home on Wednesday night to tend to their own electoral prospects, it looks like we won't see this bill signed into law until November at the earliest.

Fortunately, the House has a chance to make a good bill better by signing off on the Senate bill as soon as possible and sending it over to the President's desk on the first day they get back to work.

Both bills, the House and Senate versions, are good. We've been six months without any way to protect animals from being exploited and victimized in the name of sexual sadism. Now, the finish line is in sight, and the House of Representatives can build on the good work they've done on behalf of animals by adopting this language, and getting it over to President Obama's desk as soon as possible.

Photo credit: Energetic Spirit