Suspected ‘Crush’ Video Ring Leaders Arrested

For Immediate Release:
5 August 2011

Contact:
Sandra Smiley +44 (0)207 357 9229, ext 229; [email protected]
 
London – A year-long investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) UK’s Asia-Pacific affiliate and the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation into the production of a series of “crush” videos has resulted in two arrests. Dorma (“Chita”) and Vicente Ridon, the couple charged with crimes related to the production of videos – in which scantily clad young girls engage in the torture and killing of animals – were arrested by the police early on Tuesday morning in Burgos, Philippines. The Ridons, who have posted bail, have been charged with violations of child abuse and local animal welfare laws and are expected to face further charges involving human trafficking and wildlife protection laws. They are expected to face trial within the year.
 
PETA Asia’s hotline received more than 200 tips in the week following the group’s appeal for help in finding the Ridons.
 
“Deliberately inflicting pain and suffering on animals as shown in these videos is callous and unfeeling, and the people who perpetrated these acts must be punished”, says PETA UK’s Mimi Bekhechi. “This should serve as a warning to anyone who would commit crimes of cruelty to animals: the public takes it very seriously and will do all it can to see justice served.”
 
The “crush” videos – which are illegal to produce in the UK – depict extreme cruelty to animals. Scenes included a rabbit as he or she was skinned alive, rabbits as they flailed and screamed while their ears were cut off and they were set on fire, a dog as he or she was burned with a clothes iron, a monkey and several dogs as they were repeatedly hit in the eyes with the sharp end of a stiletto heel and puppies as they were crushed until they vomited their internal organs.