A crush fetish is a fetish and a paraphilia in which sexual arousal is associated with observing objects being crushed or being crushed oneself. The crushed objects vary from inanimate items (e.g., food), to injurious and/or fatal crushing of invertebrates (e.g., insects, snails, worms, spiders), or vertebrates (e.g., birds, reptiles, mammals). In the most severe cases, crushing has involved homicide or extended torture until death of restrained animals including dogs, cats, pigs, and monkeys. Animal welfare organisations, such as the Humane Society of the United States, condemn this practice and consider it extremely disturbing. The motivation for these acts may be the production of a film recording the events, which is sold on the Internet to crush fetishists who find the content sexually gratifying, a tailored genre known as "crush film". There are currently no laws specifically forbidding the crushing of animals, but the production or trade of crush erotica involving live vertebrates is illegal in many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. In the United States, interstate commerce in (hard) crush videos has been illegal since 2010, and many other countries also have banned them. Classification Crush fetishists have used terms to classify crushing, on the basis of the object subjected to the crushing: 'Soft crush' – crushing of inanimate objects and invertebrates. This is the most common form. Most exclusive soft crush fetishists prefer to distinguish themselves from other crush fetishists, believing that other crush fetishists give them an unduly negative reputation. 'Hard crush' – crushing of non-human vertebrates. This is considered more cruel than soft crush as vertebrates are generally believed to have a greater capacity to suffer pain. Crush films General Crush films are videos produced for sexual gratification of crush fetishists. In crush films, the crushing agent is typically a woman, who will concentrate her body weight upon her feet to compress the object against the floor. The feet are typically dressed in sexually suggestive dominatrix-like footwear, such as high-heels and lace stockings, but other footwear or bare feet may be used. This recalls elements of both foot fetishism and BDSM culture. Jeff Vilencia is one known director of crush films, such as Smush! Vilencia, along with many other fetishists, has loved to see invertebrates crushed since a young age; he claims that when he was 2–3 years old, he repeatedly attempted to get people to step on him. Legal status The