In late August, a chilling video appeared on YouTube of a young teenager throwing six live newborn puppies into a fast moving river. The original video was eventually pulled, but not before it had gone viral. Within a week, the girl had been identified as living in the Bosnian village of Bugojna and police were alerted. In the end, they decided that she was too young to face animal cruelty charges.

But the police hadn't been tipped off by YouTube. It was the online community, 4 chan, that identified her.

Sites like YouTube often bring crime out of the shadows when people are arrogant, ignorant, or simply callous enough to post their violent, illegal acts online. Most companies have policies about reporting evidence of crimes against people to the police.

The same standards need to apply to crimes against animals. Not only because it's the compassionate, responsible thing to do, but also because the correlation between animal abuse and other violent crimes is well documented. It's a safe bet that anyone who will film and post their abuse or murder of animals is capable of harming people, too.

Ask YouTube to review their policies about reporting animal abuse. Not only do authorities need to be tipped off when a crime is committed, but humane organizations around the world fighting to stop animal cruelty can help bring abusers to justice.

Photo credit: rego