House Panel Targets Animal ‘Crush Videos’

Videotapes appealing to those who like to watch women with high heels crushing bugs and small animals could be illegal under legislation approved by a House subcommittee Thursday.

The bill (HR 1887), which would outlaw sales of such videos featuring cruelty to animals, was approved by the House Judiciary subcommittee on crime on an 8-2 vote.

The measure would impose criminal fines and prison terms up to five years on purveyors of so-called crush videos. The fetish has been featured recently on TV in episodes of “The Practice” and “NYPD Blue.”

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) sponsored the bill and during an earlier hearing described brutality against insects, dogs, cats and monkeys. The videos were sold to people who became “sexually aroused” by the actions, subcommittee Chairman Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) said.

An amendment was adopted to exempt videos or other depictions if they had journalistic, religious, political, educational, historic or artistic value.

“These exceptions would ensure that an entertainment program on Spain depicting bullfighting or a news documentary on elephant poachers, to state two examples, would not violate the new statute,” McCollum said.

The practice came to attention earlier this year when law enforcement officials in Ventura County and Long Beach arrested a suspected crush video producer on charges of felony animal cruelty.