Not Enough is Being Done Against Fake Rescue Videos

Not enough is being done against fake rescue videos, but this new form of animal abuse was finally picked up by a mainstream news site. I was checking out the news for the Netherlands this morning and I was pleased to see that finally, an article was dedicated to the horrible concept of fake rescue videos on social media.

Although this news was buried by the other events that are going on in the world within hours, I know thousands of people got to see it. And that’s the sort of publicity that this issue so desperately needs. Although I already have two posts about fake animal rescue videos with over 10k views each, this is my cue to once again send out a reminder to the world about these horrible displays of animal abuse. Because unfortunately, I’ve only seen an increase in the amount of videos of this kind being pumped out, since the last time I posted about it.

What is a Fake Animal Rescue Video?

A fake animal rescue video is a staged video of an animal or multiple animals being rescued. In the case of what I’m trying to raise awareness for, this is unfortunately not about harmless videos where animals get “rescued” while not really in danger. Quite the contrary. In fake animal rescue videos, animals are deliberately put in dangerous and harmful situations shortly before the camera is being turned on so that the “hero” can “happen to stumble upon the situation” and rescue the animal(s).

Fake rescue videos are becoming increasingly more common on social media, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter (X), TikTok and Instagram. This is because many people, no, most people can’t tell that they’re watching a staged video. This doesn’t make people dumb. It means these people can’t fathom the idea that someone would deliberately hurt an animal to fake a rescue video.

That’s where your help is needed. We need to educate people on this matter.

How do you fake a rescue video?

You can take your pet cat outside, put it in a cardboard box. Set up a camera, pretend that you happen to walk by and find the “dumped animal” and “take it in”. It’s deceiving, but not quite abuse and not quite the content that gives you millions of views.

So what’s needed instead, is a heartless person that is willing to actually put an animal’s life in danger so he or she can be the so-called hero. Think of throwing puppies into a snake pit. Trapping kittens in a glue trap. Tossing a bag of puppies into the water. Wrapping a cat in fishing nets and throwing it in a ditch.

Animals are often times purposely made sick and drugged for dramatic effect. Some even have their bones broken.

What you’re watching instead, when it shows the “happy after video”, is either a previous recording of when the animal was still alive, or a similar looking animal.

If you pay close attention to fur patterns of especially cats, you will notice that often times, it’s not the same cat that they’re showing off as rescued. You can also sometimes spot a noticeable difference in size, indicating that the animal is either older or younger in the after video.

How to recognize a fake rescue video

There are a couple of things that really give away that a rescue video is staged. Among others:

• The most obvious sign is filming the animal for a long time before actually taking action to help it. Typically, these videos include extensive camera shots of the animal’s predicament and the severity of the state it is in. This is devastating to the situation of the animal, but it is done for dramatic effect.
• Second, these videos often show a person “just doing their thing”, for example sweeping the floor, arriving on a motor cycle, walking along the street or through some grassy field, and then we see that they stumble upon an animal in need. This is obviously staged, as the camera was put down before the person arrived.
• Often times, the animals are not brought to a vet. If they are, the “vet” may be fake as well. I mean, anyone can put on a white coat and put a couple of medical items on a clean table. You might notice the absence of serious tests and equipment.

Not Watching is Not Enough

If you’ve been watching these videos, I understand that you do not wish to support these types of videos any longer and want to quit watching them altogether. That makes perfect sense, if it wasn’t for this minor detail: you are in the minority. The amount of people who realize that these videos are fake, are a fraction of the amount of views these fake animal rescue videos are getting.

Not only is your view merely a ‘drop in the bucket’, it doesn’t stop others from watching. Not watching these fake rescues is not good enough. You have to educate others on what’s going on. And don’t forget to leave a dislike, before reporting the video.

If you have an audience, no matter how small, share the information about these fake rescue videos. Spread the word far and wide. The more people learn to recognize these types of videos, the more of a chance we’ll have to stop them. Or at least as many as we can.

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