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New Report Reveals the Dangerous Rise of Fake Animal Rescues on Social Media

A new report by The Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) has revealed a disturbing trend of fake animal rescues. The report, titled Spot the Scam: Unmasking Fake Animal Rescues, sheds light on how some creators are endangering animals to create viral content, exploiting viewers’ compassion for financial gain.

Over six weeks, SMACC gathered 1,022 links to fake rescue videos across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter (now X). Shockingly, these videos amassed over 572 million views. The majority of this content was found on Meta-owned platforms, Facebook and Instagram, with YouTube and TikTok also contributing a significant portion.

Source: International Animal Rescue IAR/Youtube

What makes this content especially harmful is the deliberate staging of dangerous situations for animals. Creators intentionally place animals in harm’s way to then “rescue” them on camera, gaining views and, in some cases, asking for donations. According to SMACC, 21% of these fake rescue creators solicited donations from viewers, often via platforms like PayPal.

The president of International Animal Rescue, Alan Knight, commented on the exploitation, stating, “The setting up of fake rescues is a particularly vile and sickening way to exploit and abuse animals for money… It’s easy to be misled into thinking a scene of an animal needing help is genuine, and that is why it’s essential that social media platforms do much, much more to identify and remove this type of content.”

Perhaps even more troubling is the role social media algorithms play in promoting this harmful content. SMACC found that nearly 22% of the fake rescue videos were suggested to researchers by the platforms’ recommendation systems. This highlights a major flaw in the algorithms, as they prioritize engagement and sensational content over ethical concerns, further boosting the visibility of these staged rescues.

The report categorizes fake rescue content into several common themes, with the most prevalent being “found to be abandoned,” which made up 30.9% of the links. In these videos, animals are often depicted as helpless and abandoned in dangerous environments. Another common theme, “rescued from being trapped or stuck,” accounted for 28.8% of the content. In both scenarios, the animals are put in harm’s way deliberately for dramatic effect.

Veterinarians who reviewed the content were asked to evaluate the welfare of the animals based on the limited information available in the videos. Although their assessments were not definitive, their insights provide a deeper understanding of the potential harm caused to the animals involved.

The report is a call to action for social media companies to take a stronger stance against fake rescue content. SMACC is urging platforms to remove these harmful videos and prevent their algorithms from promoting them. With more than 52% of the content found on Facebook and Instagram alone, the need for action from Meta is especially pressing.

Despite some efforts from platforms, the report notes that only 22.8% of the links were removed or became inaccessible after being flagged. This is far from sufficient, as millions of viewers continue to be exposed to this misleading and harmful content.

As more people become aware of fake rescues, it’s crucial for viewers to think critically about the videos they encounter. While many people are drawn to content that showcases acts of kindness toward animals, they must be cautious not to unintentionally Support creators who exploit animals for profit. By sharing and interacting with these staged rescues, viewers inadvertently encourage this form of abuse. Animal lovers are advised to report suspicious content and resist the urge to engage with it, no matter how compelling it may seem.