[lilacmoonbeam]

I know this may not sound as bad as alof of other stuff in this section of the boards, but it's something that has been bothered me for quite some time now.

Certain horrible videos on youtube.com

A few months ago I came accross this disgusting video of a hamster being practically killed on youtube, the inhumane act was carried out by the poor hamster being outside in it's cage being hosed down with loads of water - now this could kill a hamster, cause it much distress & give it a disease called wettail which is 90% of the time fatal in hamsters -. There is no question of this being animal abuse.

I have put so many comments on the video expressing my disgust and horror, I have also raised it with much concern with youtube... and so have many other peope I know. We have also looked at youtubes conditons of posting videos on their site, and they state that users must not put anything "unlawful" / "offensive" on the site, well I'm sorry but I found this video to be both!!!

Guess what? Youtube did not remove this video they merely but a "caution" not up warning people "that you may find it offensive" etc... this is totally going agains youtubes own terms??

For a website as well known as this one to continue to allow videos like this to be broadcast, of what surely is an illegal act (I may be wrong as I live in the UK and I'm unsure of what US law is like, and I know it differs from state to state so please excuse my ignorance on this issue), I find it disgusting.

I have also raised this issue on a animal welfare/rights group on myspace, but unfortunately this didn't attract much intrest =(

I have contact youtube numerous times (and so have a few others I know) but this has been to no avail.

I have seen many other videos of hamsters and other animals of course that can be deemed at.. best.. sick!

Nothing is ever done.. has anyone else any views on the matter? What can be done??

Has anyone come accross anything like this before?

It just makes me sick to think that millions of kids and people will have access to these awful videos, and some kids may grow up thinking that it's ok to treat animals like this.

I feel terrible for the animals involved, whether it be hamsters/dogs/cats whatever... it's not comedy, it's not funny, and it should be dealt with and the inhumans that carry out these acts should be punished..

Please I don't what else I can do about this

If anyone wants to know what I am referring to I can provide links if people so wish.. I'm not sure if I am allowed to do this however.

 

[Thalia]

I also saw a video of kids doing something very dangerous. I worry that you tube allowing dangerous-unlawful-unethical videos just encourages people. Is there a "report video" button. For the video I saw, I did not know what I could do to report it easily.

 

[Amy SF]

I'm hoping that now that Google owns YouTube, there will be some restrictions on the type of videos they'll allow on the site...

...but I won't hold my breath.

 

[peace]

Have you tried alerting an organization such as PETA or www.pet-abuse.com about this? The website creators may just find it's easier to take down a few offending videos rather than face an ugly media campaign.

In the meantime, you can continue to report offending videos to the owners, pointing out that animal abuse is very much illegal and offensive.

 

[lilacmoonbeam]

Yeah, I have pressed the "report" button before, but nothing much happens unfortunately

all YouTube to is put a caution sign up before the video plays.

I'm also hoping now that Google owns YouTube, that this will be sorted out, but again I'm also not going to hold my breath!

I'll have a look at those sites to see about reporting it to organisations.

Thanks.

 

[Fyvel]

This is interesting because the video of the pelican swallowing a pigeon was removed for violating TOS. And really, while it isn't the nicest thing to see, it's just nature (although messed up nature, it seems), and isn't unlawful or necessarily offensive.

 

[Eclipse]

I say , allow the vidoes and use them for cruelty evidence if they are shown.

 

[Irizary]

What you have seen may be illegal. Why don't you send links with the videos you find to various US organizations like the

ASPCA

http://www.aspca.org/site/FrameSet?s...ms/animal.html

In Defense of Animals

http://www.idausa.org

PETA

http://www.peta.com

Humane Society US

http://www.hsus.org

and any others you can think of. An institution has more power than individuals...

 

[Eclipse]

Do you think feeding a live feeder mouse to a tank full of piranha counts as animal abuse?. Someone on youtube seems to have done it. Since these animals are sold and bred as food I guess it's a gray area.

 

[Fyvel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eclipse

Do you think feeding a live feeder mouse to a tank full of piranha counts as animal abuse?. Someone on youtube seems to have done it. Since these animals are sold and bred as food I guess it's a gray area.

I've seen either that or a similar video (in the video I saw they fed a live mouse to an Oscar). I think the point is the intent of the video. Is the intent to show the torture of the mouse or the feeding of the Oscar? Considering a mouse isn't common food for an Oscar, I'm going with the former. Deliberately torturing a hamster (I haven't seen the video and am just going on the explanation of it) serves no purpose other than to torture an animal.

But yes, there are grey areas, and each video should be considered on an individual basis as they are reported. Seems like a lot of work for the owners of You Tube, but I guess that's what they signed up for when they started the website.

 

[dropdeaddale]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fyvel

This is interesting because the video of the pelican swallowing a pigeon was removed for violating TOS. And really, while it isn't the nicest thing to see, it's just nature (although messed up nature, it seems), and isn't unlawful or necessarily offensive.

I found this to be very interesting as well. I tried to view it and it said that the video had been removed, the video being a side of nature we have never seen but a side of nature nonetheless and now they won't remove a video of a hamster being tortured and brutalized? There is something TERRIBLY wrong with that.

Is there something we could do? Possibly a petition to Youtube or Google calling for videos such as this to be removed?

 

[kpickell]

I want to type this in CAPS for emphasis, but I won't, so I'll just bold it: ;-)

Do NOT leave comments for videos like this!!!!

Simply hit the "Flag As Innapropriate" link and leave it at that. Youtube is good about reviewing videos and removing those that contain definite abuse. I do this all the time for dog fighting videos and they're usually removed in a day. But again, DO NOT leave comments!!! That's the worst thing you can do for a video that you don't want people to see. The more comments a video recieves the more popular it is weighed and the more people that will see it. Comments = Popularity on YouTube, so if you leave a comment on a video you are helping that video thrive and helping more people see it.

And don't tell people about it either because videos can also be sorted by "# of Views", so the more people you send to see that video the higher it will be rated. When videos receive lots of views, lots of comments, and lots of ratings (even negative ones), the creator of that video is inspired to continue putting up those type of videos. Likewise, don't add it to your favorites to check up on later. All these things just add fuel to the fire and do more harm than good! These people are posting these videos for attention and you are giving it to them. Report the video and forget about it.

 

[Irizary]

I strongly think that people should also contact the organizations that I listed earlier, if they see something that could be illegal abuse. It may be that the poster can be traced, the perpetrator punished, and the animal/s rescued.

 

[nkace]

Unfortunately people find animals to be a form of entertainment, I Am very disturbed by thinking I am going to see something cute, it's horrifying.

 

[pharmacyfires]

If you think these videos are bad, and they sound like they are, and YouTube won't take them down, then you should definitely contact some animal rights groups. I know that kids DO emulate things they see in videos, whether it be attempting to drown a hamster with a hose, or any number of other dangerous stunts there are videos for on the internet. It's not just for the rescue of this one hamster, really, it's also going to help stop copycat incidents from occurring too.

 

[lilacmoonbeam]

I have been on youtube again, and it appears the video has been removed, at long last!!!!!! however... I noticed this video about 6 months ago, and it was still there about 4 months ago! (I didn't know what I could do about it at this point other than complain directly to youtube) As soon as I saw the video the first time I flagged it as inappropriate, and nothing happened after about 15 people flagged it as inappropriate, and then a "caution" page thing came up so registered viewers only could watch it. But the video was still there a good few months down the line.

So I do have to disagree with the fact that youtube are usually good at removing these videos, as that was 4 months I'm aware of that the video was on the site, imagine how many kids will be watching that video in that space of time? I was looking for the link to report it today (my internet has been down as my modem broke!! hence the reason for the delay.. its neverending!) and couldn't find the video, so I am assuming it has been removed. I did highlight this issue with another forum, so I think someone on that other forum did say she reported it to one of those websites above. Perhaps this is why it is no longer on there. I hope for the hamster's sake, that the "owner" has been found out and prosecuted, and that it just simply hasn't been taken off and forgotten about, as this will continue.

I am not going to keep searching youtube for cruelty videos however as it is something I DO NOT want to come across again ever!!! But if I ever do I will know where to go in the future, so that these awful people are "hopefully" dealt the long arm of the law!

 

[Eclipse]

That's why I'd rather see them left up, so that they can be caught.

After the person has been caught, then remove the video.

Like if someone robbing a store proudly put up a video of them robbing a store. I don't believe the cruelty will stop because the films are not allowed.

I'm guessing that very bad things happen to all sorts of small animals (esepcially feeder bred mice and rats) that we don't see. I don't like to think about it too much.