Kategorie: Animals

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After obtaining evidence that a woman in Cairo was killing animals in shockingly cruel ways for fetish “crush” videos sold online to buyers around the world, PETA Asia and a legal team from the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt (SPARE) shared our findings with the local Ministry of Interior.

In a precedent-setting action, authorities swiftly arrested Shaimaa Haridi Masoud Ali, who later confessed to producing and selling videos of tortured animals. She was taken into custody on charges of cruelty to animals and will be detained for two weeks, pending a full investigation.

“This is the first known arrest for ‘crush’ video production in Egypt and the longest time someone has served for alleged cruelty to animals there. It should be a sign to anyone involved in the crush-video industry that we will expose their revolting activities and report them to law enforcement.”

—Amina Abaza, Cofounder of SPARE and a PETA Asia Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

PETA Asia has also alerted the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to its investigation and is now calling on Egyptian and international authorities to pursue charges against the videos’ buyers.

What Do These ‘Crush’ Videos Show?

The videos were first reported to PETA Asia by a concerned citizen. They were allegedly advertised in a messaging app group with more than 1,100 members, in which buyers could request specific animals to be killed as well as particular forms of torture.

The videos show a woman, apparently Shaimaa Haridi Masoud Ali, engaging in the following “crush” acts:

• Standing on rabbits and kittens, slowly crushing them
• Strangling kittens
• Slitting the throats of kittens, rabbits, dogs, ducks, and chickens
• Holding kittens underwater and then cutting their throats
• Hacking off a cat’s head with a knife
• Plucking out a rooster’s feathers and pouring what appears to be hot coffee over the bird’s body before cutting the animal’s throat

In some of the videos, a very young girl apparently watches the torture, indicating corruption of a minor.

“These extremely gruesome videos depict extraordinary cruelty to vulnerable animals, who are painfully crushed and hacked apart for buyers’ perverted satisfaction,” says PETA Asia Senior Vice President Jason Baker. “We are sincerely grateful to the authorities who worked tirelessly and acted quickly on the information revealed by PETA Asia and SPARE’s investigation.”

Have you seen a website promoting cruelty to animals?

Never share crush videos. Avoid commenting on or reacting to such content as well, as these actions only increase their visibility. As this case shows, for animals in danger, one phone call or e-mail can make all the difference. Please, if you witness or hear about cruelty to animals, never be silent.

After a video was posted to social media showing a teenager slamming a calf to the ground and beating the animal, TeachKind—PETA’s humane education division—is offering urgent empathy lessons for the district’s children.

The Calf Attack Was Preventable: Empathy Needs to Be Taught in Schools

The video shows a teenager (reportedly in Mercer County, Ohio) body-slamming a defenseless calf to a barn floor and then repeatedly slapping the young animal in the face. Other cows can be heard bellowing in the background as the teen mockingly strokes the calf’s face, calling them a “f***ing bitch,” before punching the animal in the cheek. Every time the calf is able to get to their feet, the teen throws them back on the ground while the person filming seemingly laughs and encourages the attacker to continue. Because the suspects are reportedly minors, their names have not been made public, but at least one of the teens allegedly involved in the gruesome beating has been arrested.

Cows are curious, clever, gentle animals who form complex relationships with their family members. Like humans, mother cows form strong maternal bonds with their calves, and on dairy farms, they can be heard frantically crying out for their babies after they’ve been forcibly separated so that their milk can be consumed by humans.

In response to the disturbing video, TeachKind sent an urgent letter asking local Celina City Schools Superintendent Dr. Ken Schmiesing to accept free resources that could be used to help area schools achieve the Ohio Department of Education’s goals for social and emotional learning, which, according to the state, help students “do better academically, socially, and behaviorally.”

Because schools around the country are facing an epidemic of violence and bullying, it’s never been more important to teach students the value of compassion and empathy when interacting with each other and our fellow animals. TeachKind’s empathy-building resources, which are unlike anything offered by any other organization, are available to all schools free of charge to help stop abuse. Free education resources include Empathy Now, a step-by-step, trauma-informed guide to preventing youth violence against animals; Challenging Assumptions, a program kit for high school students; and the Share the World program kit for young children.

Violence Toward Our Fellow Animals Often Leads to Violence Against Humans

There’s a reason the FBI keeps track of cases of cruelty to animals and the organization Sandy Hook Promise includes cruelty to animals on its “10 Critical Warning Signs of Violence” list: It’s often a precursor to violence against humans. TeachKind notes that research shows that 43% of school shooters first committed acts of cruelty against animals and that other studies have found that animal abuse is a better predictor of sexual assault than previous convictions for homicide, arson, or weapons offenses. The teen’s attack of a gentle calf is just the latest sign that schools must foster empathy in classrooms immediately in order to address the epidemic of youth violence against animals of all species.

Champagne corks will soon be popping at PETA, as Hard Rock International has just announced that when it officially takes over The Mirage in Las Vegas next month, it will be phasing out the casino’s much-criticized captive-animal displays—a move that follows a push from PETA and local animal rights advocates. Below, please find a statement in response from PETA Foundation General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet:

Big cats belong in the jungle, not behind bars in a casino sideshow, and a desert is no place for a dolphin. PETA is encouraging Hard Rock to usher in its new animal-free era by finding reputable new homes for the big cats and working to get the dolphins to a seaside sanctuary where they could have more natural lives in spacious habitats, far from the lights and noise of the Strip.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.