5 Years in Prison for Monkey Abuse Videos

Jul 21

2 min read

Every monkey deserves a life free from fear, pain, and exploitation.

A Florida man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for distributing more than 40 videos showing monkeys being tortured, mutilated, burned, and sexually abused.

Investigators found that he created and managed private online groups where the videos were distributed.

The court found that his leadership role in those groups was one of the reasons he received the five-year prison sentence.

The judge described the videos as "evil" and said the sentence was meant to show that society will not tolerate their distribution in any way.

Justice cannot erase suffering, but it can help prevent more animals from enduring it.

Federal law has made the production and distribution of animal abuse videos a felony since 2010.

Even so, prosecutions remain rare because offenders often operate in private, invitation-only groups and across encrypted platforms.

Prison sentences of this length are uncommon in cases like this.

The sentence sends a clear warning that people who create, share, or promote videos of animals being tortured can be found, prosecuted, and sent to prison.

Adam Gustafson of the U.S. Department of Justice said, "The production and distribution of obscene animal crush videos is a felony.

This sentence is a warning to all future creators and consumers of animal crushing that they risk federal prosecution and imprisonment for these crimes."

Safety should be the beginning of every animal's story.

Punishing cruelty helps protect animals from abuse.

Preventing suffering before it begins protects millions more.

The world's 600 million stray dogs and 87 million stray cats give birth to over 1 billion homeless puppies and kittens every year.

Tragically, those who survive, also reproduce and give birth to another generation of homeless strays - thus repeating the cycle of suffering, every year.

Reducing overpopulation means fewer animals are born into suffering.

This is why our mission is to end the #1 cause of suffering and death for dogs and cats — overpopulation — by developing a Cookie that will only need to be eaten one time, and it will, in effect, spay or neuter — without surgery.