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Tell YouTube to Take a Stand Against Animal Cruelty
  1. Signatures
    1,544 out of 2,500
    Petitioning
    1. CEO, YouTube (Chad Hurley)
  2. Created By
    Stephanie Feldstein
    Ypsilanti, MI
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

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

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Strengthen YouTube Policies on Reporting Animal Cruelty

Dear Mr. Hurley

In August, a video appeared on YouTube of a young teenager throwing six live newborn puppies into a fast moving river. Although the original video was pulled, it took the online community 4chan to lead police to the girl in Bosnia. I'm concerned that YouTube does not take the reporting of animal cruelty seriously.

The correlation between animal abuse and other violent crimes is well-documented. Illegal acts involving animals should be treated with the same standards as other crimes, and any evidence of animal cruelty that appears on YouTube should be reported to the proper authorities just as crimes against people would be.

I'm joining the Change.org community in calling for a review of YouTube's guidelines for handling content depicting animal abuse. If you do not already have policies in place, they should be created; if you already address reporting evidence of animal abuse in your policies, please ensure that these crimes are treated with the urgency they deserve.

In addition to reporting evidence of animal abuse to the proper authorities, I urge you to work with humane organizations who can help pursue these cases. Animal welfare experts can not only help YouTube identify animal cruelty, but can also work with law enforcement to make sure these cases receive appropriate follow-up.

Please take a stand against animal cruelty.

Thank you.

[Your name]

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