In mid-2016, Facebook took the decision to remove an animal cruelty option from their reporting options. This decision is unacceptable and the Facebook policy makers must reconsider this decision. Please read the information below and sign this petition in support of reinstating the animal cruelty reporting option on Facebook and encouraging Facebook staff to take real action when such reports are made.

An online search of 'how do I report animal abuse on Facebook' reveals 100s of comments and community boards shocked and horrified at the lack of Facebook's commitment to stopping such cruelty, including refusing to remove images of dogs and cats being abjectly tortured. The typical answer when asked to remove such a video is that 'it has been reviewed and does not violate community standards.' As Facebook rapidly becomes a communication mechanism of choice for millions of people, we must join together to make new choices in social media if Facebook will not change their policy. We would not stand by if human cruelty was allowed to be shared on Facebook and we should do the same in the case of the countless helpless and innocent animals exploited there.

The illegal wildlife trade is an industry worth an estimated 7-23 billon dollars annually that is firmly ensconced in a global system of organized crime based upon the exploitation of the environment and human rights. The global pet trade is dominated by birds, followed by reptiles and mammals; although countless of these species are threatened, a disproportionately large number of mammals involved come from threatened taxa - these same taxa are those most likely to be filmed for exploitation on social media.

The advent of social media has meant that people can parade their illegal pets online in an atmosphere that may appear to follow welfare standards and people may even appear to care for the animals; more often than not, however, welfare standards are violated and to the eyes of anyone who knows the behaviour of exotics, their suffering is apparent. Suffering can more easily be quantified by using an international standard of five freedoms of animal welfare, in which the animal appears free from disease (including obesity), has adequate space (including a large enough enclosure), is fed an appropriate diet, and is free to interact with others of its own kind according to its social nature. The fifth freedom - freedom from fear- is especially apt for illegal wild caught exotics, who find themselves subjected to constant human touch in a totally alien environment. Violation of any of these freedoms is equivalent to animal cruelty.

One example of illegally kept mammals regularly displayed on online social networks comes from the overwhelming exploitation of Asia's slow lorises. Our research team in an article in the international journal Folia Primatologica have already scientifically demonstrated the abject cruelty found in 100 videos of illegal slow loris exotic pets. These videos are amongst the most popular on Facebook, generating millions of likes due to the ignorance of viewers who cannot perceive the poor welfare and also do not realise that the animals (or their parents) were cruelly illegally smuggled in order for them to become pets. By allowing such videos to persist, not only is Facebook endorsing animal cruelty, but they are endorsing illegal wildlife trade and gaining dark profits from this multi-billion dollar industry.

Read more here
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/444231

Is Tickling Torture? Assessing Welfare towards Slow Lorises (Nycticebus spp.) within Web 2.0 Videos