Can the cruelty underlying the “crush videos” that this law was passed to target be addressed through the cruelty laws that already exist in all states?
No. Unfortunately, due to the underground and secretive nature of the two main activities targeted by the Depictions law—the production of “crush” videos and animal fights—the vast majority of such activities would go unpunished and undeterred if not for the Depictions law. The statute was passed to enable law enforcement to target the commercial depictions of such activities, and thereby deter the underlying cruelty. Indeed, there was a lively market for crush videos prior to the enactment of the Depictions law, which meant thousands of animals suffering at the hands of the producers of such videos. After the law was passed in 1999, crush videos all but disappeared from the internet and other points of sale. Since the Court of Appeals overturned the law, crush videos have reemerged on the market, along with the suffering of untold numbers of defenseless animals.
