Gallegly Pushes Bill Targeting ‘Crush’ Videos

WASHINGTON —  Rep. Elton Gallegly, joined by Ventura County law enforcement officials and a host of animal-rights activists, on Thursday pushed for passage of legislation that would make it a federal crime to distribute or sell across state lines so-called crush videos, in which small animals are stepped on and usually stomped to death.

“This is clearly one of the sickest forms of animal cruelty I have ever heard of,” said the Simi Valley GOP congressman, who hopes the House will vote on his bill this session.

At a hearing Thursday held at Gallegly’s request, production of the videos was described as a multimillion-dollar industry, with more than 2,000 titles in circulation that are sold for $30 to $100 each on the Internet.

The issue was highlighted earlier this year after law enforcement officials from Ventura County and Long Beach arrested suspected crush video producer Gary Lynn Thomason, 47, of Long Beach. Thomason faces felony animal cruelty charges, and has been held over for trial, authorities said.

Ventura County officials were alerted to the problem after the Humane Society in Washington purchased a Thousand Oaks-produced crush video online and notified county law enforcement authorities, said Susan Creede, an investigator with the Ventura County district attorney’s office.

Critics of the videos offered a graphic glimpse of the bizarre industry at Thursday’s hearing, which was held by the crime subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. Enlarged still photographs and several minutes of video footage were shown. Some spectators left the room rather than watch the gruesome images, and several congressmen on the panel appeared slightly gray-faced.

Crush videos typically feature women’s feet, usually in high heels, stepping on small animals such as mice, guinea pigs, monkeys or kittens or, less commonly, fruit, bugs, shellfish or candy bars. Law enforcement officials believe that devotees of the genre derive some sort of sexual pleasure from the images.

Under current law, the makers of crush videos can be charged only under animal cruelty laws. Also, the anonymous nature of the videos makes prosecution difficult, Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Connors told the subcommittee.

Gallegly’s proposed legislation, which has broad bipartisan support, would make it a federal crime to create, sell or possess any depiction of animals being treated cruelly for commercial purposes. Violators could get up to five years in prison.

Gallegly’s bill deals specifically with interstate commerce; Videos produced and shipped within one state would not be affected. Supporters of the measure say because this is primarily an Internet-dominated industry, the vast majority of sales would be covered.

Critics contend the bill would violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. They say it is so broad it could allow prosecution of those who make legitimate animal documentaries and even distributors of news magazines that contain pictures of bullfights.

Gallegly said he would offer amendments to exempt educational or artistic works such as films of bullfights.

Actress Loretta Swit, best known as “Hot Lips” Houlihan on the long-running sitcom “M*A*S*H*,” was among those testifying at Thursday’s hearing. Speaking on behalf of several national animal-rights organizations, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Doris Day Animal League, Swit called the videos “a truly disgusting example of evil.”

She also stressed what she called the “violence connection”--the belief among major law enforcement agencies that those who torture or kill animals are more likely than most to do the same to human beings.

A Gallegly spokesman said Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has promised to bring the bill to the floor “before the end of the session,” but no specific date has been set.