On detection 2,053 videos were found on the video-sharing platform YouTube, with a total of 1.2 billion views and depicting animal abuse. The investigation was carried out by the animal welfare organization last year Lady freethinkerfound the disturbing videos, which were posted on approximately 146 channels and had a total of 30.8 million subscribers, hunting wildlife, pets and farm animals in categories such as animal fighting, eating live animals, hunting animals with other animals, monkey torture and fox hunting.
Animal abuse on YouTube
Lady Freethinker defines “animal abuse” as footage in which animals are intentionally injured or endangered for entertainment, or are known to be under severe psychological stress, physical pain, or dead. This content violates YouTube’s community standards that prohibit the display of forms of animal abuse, including dogfighting, cockfighting, cruelty to animals, and hunting with illegal practices in videos.
As of this month, Lady Freethinker has determined that more than 2,000 are still live and 594 new videos have been added. Among these, the organization found fake and staged animal rescues, in which domesticated animals such as cats and dogs are placed in dangerous situations in the wild near predators such as snakes and crocodiles in order to be rescued in time.
Demand a policy of no tolerance
Lady Freethinker started one petition Encourage YouTube to implement a zero tolerance policy for all animal cruelty on the site, put in place a mechanism to quickly and accurately identify videos of animal abuse, and easily remove any videos that violate such a policy. Lady Freethinker asked to meet YouTube to discuss the results, but YouTube has not responded so far.