I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5337 

To amend section 48 (relating to depiction of extreme animal cruelty) of 

title 18, United States Code, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 18, 2010 

Mr. PETERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend section 48 (relating to depiction of extreme animal 

cruelty) of title 18, United States Code, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Torture Pre5 vention Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Federal Government and the several 

9 States have a compelling interest in preventing acts 

10 of extreme animal cruelty. 


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1 (2) Each of the several States and the District 

2 of Columbia criminalize intentional acts of extreme 

3 animal cruelty. 

4 (3) The clandestine nature of certain acts of ex5 treme animal cruelty allows the perpetrators of such 

6 crimes to remain anonymous, thus frustrating the 

7 ability of Federal and State authorities to enforce 

8 the criminal statutes prohibiting such behavior. 

9 (4) These criminal acts constitute an integral 

10 part of the production of and market for so-called 

11 crush videos and other depictions of extreme animal 

12 cruelty. 

13 (5) The creation, advertisement, and sale of 

14 crush videos and other depictions of extreme animal 

15 cruelty provide an economic incentive for, and are 

16 intrinsically related to, the underlying acts of crimi17 nal conduct. 

18 SEC. 3. DEPICTION OF EXTREME ANIMAL CRUELTY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 48 of title 18, United 

20 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘§ 48. Depiction of extreme animal cruelty 

22 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Whoever, in or affecting inter23 state or foreign commerce, knowingly creates, sells, dis24 tributes, or offers to sell or distribute a depiction of exVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:50 May 19, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5337.IH H5337

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1 treme animal cruelty shall be fined under this title or im2 prisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

3 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘depiction of extreme animal cru5 elty’ means any visual depiction, including any pho6 tograph, motion-picture film, video recording, or 

7 electronic image, that— 

8 ‘‘(A) depicts actual conduct in which one 

9 or more animals is tortured, maimed, mutilated, 

10 or subjected to other acts of extreme animal 

11 cruelty, if such conduct is committed for the 

12 primary purpose of creating the depiction; 

13 ‘‘(B) depicts conduct that violates a crimi14 nal prohibition of intentional cruelty to animals 

15 under Federal law or the law of the State in 

16 which the depiction is created, sold, or distrib17 uted; 

18 ‘‘(C) appeals to the prurient interest; and 

19 ‘‘(D) taken as a whole, does not have more 

20 than de minimis religious, political, scientific, 

21 educational, journalistic, historical, or artistic 

22 value; 

23 ‘‘(2) the term ‘State’ means each of the several 

24 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

25 of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American 


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1 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

2 Islands, and any other commonwealth, territory, or 

3 possession of the United States; and 

4 ‘‘(3) the term ‘animal’ means any live amphib5 ian, reptile, bird, or mammal, except human 

6 beings.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 

8 section 48 in the table of sections at the beginning of 

9 chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to 

10 read as follows: 

‘‘48. Depiction of extreme animal cruelty.’’. 

Æ 


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