Just 2 weeks ago, news of an unidentified tan-skinned woman subjecting a helpless puppy to inhumane torture shook Singaporean society.
People heavily condemned her actions in the viral video, which showed her burning the puppy’s eyes and breaking its limbs.
If you were 1 of them, you can rest easy now. For SPCA, along with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Asia, confirmed that the video is an old case.
The video was reportedly filmed in the Philippines way back in 2014. And the people responsible for these heinous acts are already serving life sentences.
As if the puppy torture videos weren’t sickening enough, the women filmed were apparently human trafficking victims too, as SPCA puts it.
On Monday (9 Sep), SPCA Singapore gave a crucial update to their Facebook post that chronicled the traumatising episode.
They wrote that PETA Asia confirmed the video, which is an old case, was filmed in the Phillippines. Married couple Vicente and Dorma Ridon had produced the videos.
The puppy torture video was not their first ‘work’. They were responsible for multiple videos depicting “horrendous cruelty” to animals sold online.
SPCA Singapore also mentioned that PETA Asia and Filipino authorities managed to locate the couple and shut down the operation. They were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014.
They said they were also informed that the women in the videos were victims of human trafficking.
Some of them testified against the couple, strengthening the prosecution’s case.
We fact-checked SPCA’s update and found a report on The Sydney Morning Herald on Vicente Ridon, and his wife Dorma.
On 30 Sep 2014, they were convicted of human trafficking, cruelty to animals, child abuse, and violating wildlife protection laws, according to the news.
Digging further into the case, Australian courts heard from the Ridons that an Australian man had orchestrated these so-called ‘crush’ videos, where animals are slaughtered or crushed by scantily clad women to fulfil sexual fetishes.
Vicente said that his “director” of the videos was an Australian man, known to him as “Mick Tanks” or “Michael Clark”. He claimed they met online in 2007 via video games.
The Sydney Morning Herald also reported that some scripts required women to play the roles of butchering dogs and stretching snakes apart.
Shockingly, 1 of the actresses was as young as 12 years old.
PETA had spent a year investigating the case. They last mentioned that they were focused on pursuing the Australian mastermind and people who bought those fetish videos.
You can read more about the case here.
Strangely enough, 1 of these fetish videos started making rounds on WhatsApp in Singapore in August — 5 years after the Ridons had gone to jail.
SPCA Singapore caught wind of the viral video, and quickly put up a Facebook post seeking information to help bring the woman to justice.
As it turns out, justice is already served. But we’re thankful that SPCA’s efforts helped shed light on an underworld industry that carries out unspeakable horrors.
Although we have yet to learn whether PETA’s attempts at pursuing the Australian man were fruitful, here’s to hoping that those who continue to abuse animals today will pay their dues, just like the Ridons.
Featured image adapted from SPCA on Facebook.
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