Couple behind animal cruelty videos nabbed in La Union

The Filipino couple accused of spreading videos of scantily clad girls performing various forms of animal cruelty for profit has been arrested in La Union province, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said on Thursday. Victor and Dorma Ridon were arrested last Tuesday in Burgos, La Union, after a year-long manhunt operation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and after PETA offered a P100,000 reward for any information leading to the couple’s arrest. PETA said its hotline received more than 200 reports in the week following its appeal for help. “The vicious disregard for the animal suffering shown in these sadistic videos must be severely punished," said PETA Asia Pacific campaign manager Rochelle Regodon in a statement. “This is a warning to anyone who would commit cruelty-to-animals crimes: the public takes it seriously and will do all it can to see justice served." The Ridons allegedly produced and sold 68 videos — or “crush films" — showing, among others, rabbits being mutilated alive, dogs being burned with clothes iron, and puppies being stepped on, their internal organs spewing out. The Ridons have posted bail but are expected to face trial within the year, PETA said. They are accused of violating child abuse (Republic Act 7610) and animal welfare (RA 8485) laws, and are expected to face further charges involving human trafficking (RA 9208), and wildlife protection (RA 9147) laws. PETA said the “crush film" trend began over 10 years ago. The films were being sold online for P500 to P1,000 pesos each. PETA said a Russian tipster posing as a customer purchased the videos in order to give them information regarding the Ridon couple. There are two bills filed in Congress seeking to explicitly ban the production and sale of “crush videos" — Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s Senate Resolution No. 397 and Buhay party-list Rep. Irwin Teng’s House Bill Number 4595. Last May, a Quezon City court convicted UP student Joseph Carlo Candare for killing a cat — a landmark animal cruelty case in the Philippines. The following month, a certain Jerzon Senador caused an uproar on the Internet when he posted pictures of his puppy hanging on a clothesline. — KBK, GMA News