VIOLENT
ANIMAL CRUELTY VIDEOS MUST BE “CRUSHED”
HELP NEEDED NOW
 As
you know, in April the Supreme Court struck down the 1999 law
sponsored by Representative Elton Gallegly
that forbid the sale of crush videos determining that the law
was too broad and was in violation of the 1st amendment that
protects free speech. Once again Representative Gallegly led
the charge and within one day of the ruling introduced the “Prevention
of Interstate Commerce in Animal Crush Videos Act of 2010” which
on July 21st was passed by the House of Representatives in a
rare bipartisan vote of 416 to 3. This new bill has been narrowly
framed to deal only with the single issue of crush videos for
the purpose of “commercial advantage or private financial
gain.”
Unquestionably our 1st Amendment is part of what makes America
a great place to live. But these videos don’t “depict” violence,
they are violent and the people who watch them have violent tendencies
in their DNA. “Violent is not a First Amendment issue;
it is a law enforcement issue,” notes Representative Gallegly.
And we couldn’t agree more.
 I recently had the pleasure to speak with Representative Gallegly
who expressed his appreciation to Actors and Others for Animals
and to all of you for supporting this new bill. But he cautioned
that until it is passed by the Senate and signed into law, there
is still work to be done.
The bill now moves on to the Senate. But this is an election
year and this bill must be addressed by the Senate before the
work ends during this legislative term. Remember the 60’s
television show, “Lost in Space,” when the robot
would start flailing his arms and shouting “warning, warning
Will Robinson.” We need to start wielding our pens and
pencils and proclaiming that such violent behavior is unacceptable.
Please write or call California Senators Boxer and Feinstein
or your own State senator(s) today and urge them to put a stop
to crush videos. You can find their address at www.senate.gov.
If the Senate doesn’t consider this bill, it means that
we will have to begin again next year and the lives of more animals
will be jeopardized.
Susan Taylor, Executive Director
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