People are staging ‘fake animal rescues’ for social media views and donations — 1022 links showing fake rescue content were collected over six weeks from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and X
People are posting ‘fake animal rescues’ for social media likes
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Excerpts from [article](https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/people-are-posting-fake-animal-rescues-for-social-media-likes-383574/) by Jack Peat, re. SMACC [report](https://www.smaccoalition.com/fake-rescue-report):
*[…] Titled Spot the Scam: Unmasking Fake Animal Rescues, the report comes from a collaborative network of 29 animal protection organisations which want to expose the role of social media companies in promoting bogus content.*
*Fake rescue content depicts animals in perilous situations – abandoned, trapped, or attacked – only for the so-called rescuer to stage a dramatic intervention for views and donations.*
*Often, these animals are intentionally harmed or placed in dangerous circumstances, making the rescuers complicit in their suffering.*
*[…] The Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC), made up of 29 animal protection organizations, conducted research into the online trend of fake rescue content. It found:*
*• 1022 links showing fake rescue content were collected over six weeks from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter/X.*
*• The links located by SMACC had been watched 572,013,959 times.
Almost 52 per cent of links were found on Meta owned platforms, Facebook and Instagram, with YouTube and TikTok each featuring around a quarter of total content.*
*• 21 per cent of fake rescue creators asked viewers for donations under the guise of helping animals, usually by Paypal links.*
*• From the 605 links that SMACC gathered, almost 22 per cent of the content was suggested to our researchers by the platform’s algorithm.*
*Kittens, puppies and young monkeys are predominantly used, presumably due to the availability of these animals and the ease of handling them.*
*Cats were the most featured animal, in 42 per cent of videos, followed by primates, dogs, snakes and turtle species.*
Yup… always down vote and report animal abuse videos.
I had to check off so many boxes on the consenting popup that I forgot what I wanted to read about.
Yep, every now and again they start showing up in my YouTube feed…
“This poor cat was lying there waiting for Mr. Death to visit, and then we showed her how to life” (Yes the language does read that way in many of them)
Yeah, nah. I have enough pet drama in my life keeping our own companions alive and well, I don’t need to see something like that.
Why am I not surprised here
They’re about 6 years behind, but yeah. Any rabbit hole scroll through reels from certain countries and you’ll see the most fucked up things all for views and bot comments.
This shit’s been happening for years
The fact that some people take the time to film an animal in distress should tell you all you need to know.
Use CharityNavigator or donate to your local animal rescue you can visit.
Also in the news, did you know some of those funny videos are staged?
Fuck social media and everyone using it including myself. Everyone’s addicted to it and it’s a cancer on society that pressure cooks hatred and extremism and this type of evil bullshit. I’m taking the first step. I admit I’m addicted to it.
Follow my lead
Yes. This is exactly what I was afraid of. This is exactly what I worry about when I see animal rescue and animal help content.
I was expecting this story.
This isn’t new
I’m careful about even watching YouTube videos like that. Any watch time or even down votes are interaction that pays off. YouTube doesn’t care if you like it or hate it, just that you spend time on their platform and/or see the commercials.
There are videos of donkeys in China, with extremely bad hooves. Curled in circles. They show a farrier “rescuing” them, by trimming their hooves back into what looks like a good shape.
That’s not how it works. You need X-rays to see where the coffin bone is and if it’s rotated. Amongst other things.
My gut feeling is they film these “restorations” and then kill them for meat. There is no way they legit fixed their feet. They’re basically permanently crippled, and that’s in a country where they’ll receive proper vet and farrier care going forward.
>Social media platforms need to consult with experts and vets, to make sure their policies are effective and implementable by their moderation teams. They require refinement and maintenance by platforms as content creators come up with new ideas for Fake Rescue content.”
Yes. I’m sure the major social media platforms will get right on that.