You may have seen the cat who has a strong reaction when the owner suddenly looks like a cat with a cat filter. Or the monkey that gets a shock when it wakes up to a person scaring it with a mask. Or the dog that is so dressed up that it can’t move. The videos that are meant for entertainment are a growing problem on social media. This is the opinion of the organization World Animal Protection, which has written a report on the phenomenon. A person who has put on a mask and gives a monkey a shock. The video is highlighted as an example in the report. Calling it “systematic animal abuse” It is a form of torture, the report states. – The animals do not understand the intentions of those who carry out this, it may seem “funny” to the person, but to the animal it is perceived as life-threatening, says Nedim Buyukmihci, professor of veterinary medicine and one of the authors behind the report. The group has retrieved 195 videos from social media to highlight the seriousness of what the report refers to as systematic animal abuse. – Can develop anxiety Veterinarian Trude Mostue has read the report. In the videos, we see staged situations where the reactions of the animals are provoked, she says. – I have reacted to videos like this for a long time, and think it is strange that it has not evoked stronger reactions earlier. It is disrespectful treatment of animals, she says. For the users, it can be difficult to see whether the videos are animal abuse because there is no question of physical violence against the animal. Psychological violence, in humans and animals, can set in and cause problems and anxiety later, says Mostue. – If someone does this often to an animal, the animal can develop a behavior that can be related to anxiety, says Mostue. Dogs are frightened by a fake tiger. – Don’t understand irony or humour. Scaring animals on purpose is very inappropriate, and only for our own amusement, says Sasja Rygg, veterinarian and communications manager at Anicura. Animals don’t understand irony or humor like humans do, and animals don’t have the opportunity to understand why humans do this to them, she says. – Be the safe person in the animal’s life. Ask yourself the question: Is this what a confident adult does? If the answer is “yes”, drop it, urges Sasja Rygg. Photo: Private – The animals have no way of understanding, we cannot explain in words. If it is us, the owners, who inflict these surprises and unsafe situations on them, they become extremely unsafe, because it is us the animals look to, says Rygg. She is also not a fan of the more innocent photos and videos we see on Instagram and Snapchat. – Dressing up an animal because it suits its own outfit for the day has nothing to do with animal welfare. It may seem innocent and fun to put a bunad on the dog on 17 May, but then we prevent it from its own natural behaviour. – It prevents them from, for example, communicating with other animals, because they use their whole body. They have many dampening signals that they don’t get to see if they are dressed, and that is unfortunate because they can end up in situations where they misunderstand each other, says Rygg. One of the examples highlighted in the report. Not doing enough According to the report, the animal videos are particularly problematic on YouTube, where people share, like and comment positively. The more likes, the more money users can earn and the more videos are made. According to World Animal Protection, the platforms are not doing enough to remove the content. Danmarks Radio, which discussed the report earlier last week, has been in contact with YouTube. – YouTube does not allow content that is violent or offensive to animals. After a review of the aforementioned channels, we have removed content and closed two channels for violating the guidelines for graphic or violent content, says communications manager at Google Denmark, Jesper Vangkilde to DR. – Report the videos – Scaring animals with sudden noises, water, ugly masks is no fun, says Lise Kleveland in the Animal Protection Alliance. Photo: Dyrevernalliansen – Some of the incidents are serious, like scaring a monkey with a snake. It is very frightening for an animal that has a snake as a natural predator, says lawyer Live Kleveland in the Animal Protection Alliance World Animal Protection advises people to report and review the videos if they come across them online. Kleveland emphasizes that Norway has a law that states that it is forbidden to exercise violence against animals. – It also includes psychological violence. Gross violations can be punishable in Norway, she says. She also encourages people to report to the relevant social media when they see videos like this. – Many have guidelines against it and are completely dependent on tips.
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– Animals can develop anxiety – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
