A pharmacist from Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, told a U.S. District Court judge that he paid a person in Indonesia $100 in December 2021 to torture a young macaque using pliers and a hammer and also to create videos of that torture.
Image
from
LadyFreethinker.org
A man has pleaded guilty to federal animal crush charges after
paying an operator in Indonesia to brutally torture a young monkey
and film the atrocious act.
Kenneth Herrera, a pharmacist from Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, told a
U.S. District Court judge that he paid a person in Indonesia $100 in
December 2021 to torture a young macaque using pliers and a hammer
and also to create videos of that torture.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 20, and Herrera faces up to
seven years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
As part of his plea, Herrera agreed to make “a full, complete, and
truthful statement” and to work with investigators trying to charge
other people who belong to an international monkey torture ring
first discovered by Lady Freethinker and UK-based nonprofit Action
for Primates (AfP) in 2021.
The LFT and AfP investigation uncovered people commissioning acts of
grisly violence against macaques through online social media
platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and Telegram.
Image
from
LadyFreethinker.org
The organizations alerted law enforcement and also provided
intelligence to the BBC, leading to the chilling documentary “The
Monkey Haters” and also criminal charges in the US, the UK, and
abroad.
“Paying for the torture and killing of baby monkeys for online
‘entertainment’ – or for any reason – is appalling and must never be
tolerated,” said LFT President and Founder Nina Jackel. “We are
relieved that this individual, who is responsible for unimaginable
cruelty, was prosecuted, and hope it will deter others from carrying
out similar sadistic acts.”
LFT is continuing to directly appeal to social media platforms to
remove online animal cruelty content and to ban channels and users
who post or facilitate it.
We thank the more than 34,900 people who already have signed our
petition urging accountability for these companies and users! If you
haven’t already, please sign and share to help raise awareness for
these defenseless animals.