News : Iowa set to elevate Extreme Animal Cruelty Crimes

The Iowa House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed HF 557 (sponsored by Reps. Samantha Fett and Carter Nordman). A companion bill, SF 2099 (sponsored by Senator Lynn Evans) advanced through its Senate subcommittee.

These bills would elevate the most extreme animal cruelty crimes – defined as animal torture – to an automatic felony crime. Iowa is currently the only state that does not have an automatic first offense felony charge for severe animal cruelty crimes.

Historical context:

• In 2019, President Trump signed the “PACT” act, targeting especially animal crush torture video offenses and animal cruelty crimes involving cross-state lines commerce. (There was a case I believe last summer, or the year before, involving an Iowa attorney who was facilitating the production of similar videos.)
• In 2020, Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law HF 737, which updated definitions and penalties for many animal cruelty crimes. The bill originally had language in it that would have elevated these crimes to a felony, but the language was stripped in the Senate.
• That year, Mississippi updated its animal code to match President Trump’s newly signed law.
• Now, five years later, Iowa is the only state in the nation without a first offense felony charge for these crimes.

Remarks from President Donald J. Trump upon signing legislation that mirrors this bill’s language:

“We have a responsibility to honor the dignity of God’s creation. With today’s act (the 2019 PACT Act), we take the critical step toward being more responsible and humane stewards of our planet and all who we want to cherish and take care of, and all of those who live on it.” 

– President Donald J. Trump

Who is registered in support of this bill:

Preston Moore, the Iowa State Director of Humane World for Animals, said, “Iowans have made their opinions known loud and clear – we do not support animal cruelty and want our leaders to take action against it. Iowans care very deeply for their pets and want to see them protected. Iowa’s animal advocates, law enforcement, veterinarians, and victim advocacy organizations are united in support of this important legislation. Iowa has been the lone state without an automatic felony charge for the most severe animal cruelty crimes for five years – we now have hope that that could change this year.” 

A Des Moines lawyer was indicted in an Ohio federal court for being involved with online groups dedicated to creating and distributing videos depicting acts of extreme violence and sexual abuse against monkeys.

Philip Colt Moss was charged with conspiracy to create and distribute so-called “animal crush videos,” and distributing animal crush videos, according to court documents.

In March and April 2023, Moss is accused of conspiring with two other men, Nicholas Dryden and Giancarlo Morelli, not charged in Iowa, to create and distribute videos depicting acts of sadistic violence against baby, adolescent and adult monkeys. Dryden and Morelli were previously indicted and pending trial in Ohio.

According to court documents, the videos, created as part of the conspiracy, included depictions of monkeys having their genitals burned and mutilated and being abused in other torturous ways.

In a motion regarding release, prosecutors state Moss was arrested in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Iowa on Aug. 8. Prosecutors proffered a 28-page indictment. These monkey videos are sold to private groups, which operate similarly to child pornography distribution groups and have a vetting process for viewers to be admitted.

Moss had a “heightened” involvement in the offense because he was an “administrator,” according to the indictment. Over a 41-day period, Moss sent 18 payments to Dryden totaling $1,447 for the animal crush videos.

The prosecution also has telegram messages between Moss and Dryden, where Moss is discussing traveling with Dryden to produce the videos and telling Dryden he can get him into Indonesia without a passport and other international destinations because he has “connections,” according to the indictment.