When to click away from an animal video
āAny wild animal in a house/being treated like a pet. Yes, even if they say they ārescuedā it. No legitimate rehabber would EVER treat a wild animal like a pet. Repeat after me: it does not matter if the animal is not suitable for release; they still shouldnāt be kept as a pet.
āFree contact with big cats. Even if itās a āsanctuaryā.
āPeople interacting with wildlife. Feeding, petting, playing with, etc.
āFree handling venomous snakes.
āPredator and prey interacting. Cats and birds, dogs and birds, literally anything else with birds. Cats or dogs with rodents, etc.
āAny video that claims a wild animal is domesticated. Wild animals are NOT domesticated, but they can be tamed. These are two very different things and anyone who doesnāt understand the difference shouldnāt be owning one of those animals.
āAny video claiming that (insert wild/exotic species here) is ājust like owning a dog/cat!ā i.e. the video that went around saying foxes are āthe best characteristics of cats and dogsā.
āFacilities that breed hybrids or morphs (i.e. ligers, white tigers, coywolves, etc)
āObese animals being portrayed as ācute and chonkyā.
āClick bait titles about dangerous/exotic animals i.e. ābitten by my king cobra!ā, āmy pet fox did what?!?ā, āletting my pet alligator pick out a toy!ā. You get the idea. Anyone using wild animals to get views/publicity does not have their best interests at heart.
āAny ādog trainersā promoting dominance theory (this shit has been disproven so many times and is not even accurate for wolvesā¦)
āOwl cafes, otter cafes, or any kind of wild animal cafe.
Seriously, donāt give these people views. I understand that it can be hard to distinguish good and bad animal videos, but try and be critical of what youāre consuming. Giving these people views gets them sponsorships and money. Plus, more views = increased circulation of the video. This is honestly especially important on TikTok because there are so many younger people on that app. Look at the comment section on any pet wildlife video and itās āomg I want one!ā, āwhere can I get one?ā over and over. And yes, this does matter. It has been proven that the media we consume does influence people to get these as pets. It is currently baby animal season in the US and my clinic is inundated with people who ārescuedā baby wildlife (aka nest-napped) and now want to keep them as a pet. Mostly raccoons but also squirrels, opossums, ducklings, wild birds, and pretty much everything you can imagine.
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