Animal torture tied to online racket

SAN FERNANDO CITY —A couple behind the filming of small animals being tortured and killed was sentenced by a judge to double life terms and ordered to pay more than P9 million in penalties in 10 separate charges filed in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) here in La Union province.

In a 74-page decision, Judge Alpino Florendo of the RTC Branch 30 also sentenced Dorma and Vicente Ridon to up to 63 years in jail on separate charges of child abuse, animal welfare and wildlife protection crimes. They were given two counts of life imprisonment for human trafficking.

The charges were based on the testimonies of the couple’s housemaids, both minors, who said that they were made to torture and kill animals for a fee.

Allen Sarmiento-Raquitiso, clerk of court, said the accused appeared in court during the case promulgation on Monday.

Hysterical

“Dorma Ridon broke into hysterics while the decision was being read. She did not wait until the end of the [reading of the] decision [and was escorted outside],” Raquitiso said.

The Ridons, both 54, have been detained at the provincial jail here since 2011 after their arrest in Burgos town. They were accused of violating anti-child abuse (Republic Act No. 7610) and animal welfare (RA 8485) laws, RA 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, and RA 9147 or the Wildlife Protection and Conservation Act.

The charges were filed in 2011 when the animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Asia-Pacific, sought their arrest after they were found to be behind the filming and sale on the Internet of “fetish” videos showing animals being tortured and killed by scantily clad girls.

Peta had said the couple hired girls, ages 12 to 18 years old, to torture and kill animals and paid them P100 to P1,000 per video.

Sold online

The videos were then sold as erotica online.

In a statement posted on its website (www.peta.org), Peta thanked animal advocates “who made this victory possible.”

“A compassionate person who stumbled upon one of the horrible videos took the time to report it to Peta Asia. Cases such as this one show why we must never be silent about cruelty to animals,” it said.

The group said one of the videos showed a dog being skinned alive and another being burned with a clothes iron.

Others showed the girls cutting off rabbits’ ears and setting the animals on fire, hitting a monkey in the eye with a stiletto heel and crushing puppies.

“Sexual fetishists from Australia, France, Korea, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere purchased the videos on the Internet, and all face possible charges,” Peta said. Cristina Arzadon, Inquirer Northern Luzon