Win for Animals! Creator of ‘Crush’ Animal-Killing Videos Found Guilty in Egypt

Update (July 10, 2024): A woman who killed animals for fetish “crush” videos and then sold the vile videos online was found guilty in the first-of-its-kind case in Egypt, brought on by a complaint submitted by PETA Asia and the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt (S.P.A.R.E.). Shaimaa Haridi Masoud Ali was sentenced to one year in jail and fined 50,000 Egyptian pounds—a huge win for animals since cruelty-to-animals cases are rarely prosecuted in Egypt.

Originally published November 24, 2022:

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 S.P.A.R.E 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.