{"id":6755,"date":"2021-10-18T09:48:17","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T13:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6755"},"modified":"2025-07-09T12:28:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T16:28:32","slug":"the-hard-reality-behind-the-animal-loving-internet-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/10\/18\/the-hard-reality-behind-the-animal-loving-internet-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hard Reality Behind the Animal-Loving Internet Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pet videos have become super popular during lockdown. There are adorable clips all over the internet, and they bring a bit of joy even to the grumpiest person. Watching this kind of content can get someone through a difficult day. It is hard to believe that there could be a dark side to such an innocent trend.<\/p>\n

Sadly, reality is very different from what we see on social media. \u201cPeople forget that pets are living beings that need a lot of work and patience,\u201d Brazilian vet Mariana Azevedo said. \u201cThey see a pet doing something cute online and want to buy an animal that will do the same. When the pet does not behave the way they expect, they get frustrated. Then, people try to get rid of their pets. They sell them or give them away. A lot of the time, they just put them on the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

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All pets deserve a good home, but not all of them are lucky.<\/p><\/div>\n

The problem is even worse in poorer countries, where people do not usually desex their pets. Desexing is a procedure that stops animals from breeding. Many cities around the world have an overpopulation of cats and dogs. Too many abandoned animals together can spread disease to one another and to humans.<\/p>\n

Cats on the streets cause serious issues. Many owners do not keep their cats inside the house. That means domestic cats that have access to the street get mixed with street cats, increasing the problems they cause. \u201cCats reproduce fast, and they are good hunters. That is dangerous to local wildlife. Owners need to be responsible and keep their cats inside or build a cat patio. It\u2019s not just that they cause trouble, but they are also not safe out there. Many of them get sick or hit by a car. Angry neighbors can poison them,\u201d Azevedo said.<\/p>\n

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Stray dogs suffer even more. Compared to cats, they cannot hunt so well. That means they usually eat scraps of food to survive. As they reproduce on the streets, their initial features are watered down and it\u2019s not easy for mixed breeds to find a home. People in general prefer to buy dogs at pet shops. They think they look better and it\u2019s easier to know their personality. Pure-bred dogs are also more popular on social media.<\/p>\n

YouTube channels that show people rescuing animals are a great success. They present the problem in a way that is cheerful and easy to watch. The Dodo, for example, shows beautiful stories and it has 10 million subscribers. Sadly, even animal rescue clips can sometimes do more harm than good. \u201cThis kind of message does not always work the way we think,\u201d Francinette Monttess, an animal rescuer, said. She has more than 50 cats and dogs in her shelter. \u201cThese videos are inspiring and show people how neglected animals can become amazing pets. But they are also too optimistic. Many people believe that abandoned pets will be all right because someone is going to rescue them. That is not true. Most of them die within a few months: alone and very confused.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also need to remember,\u201d she added, \u201cthat cute YouTube channels only show successful rescues. Nobody wants to see animals dying. Also, a lot happens behind the cameras that we don\u2019t see. People might think that anybody can bring an abandoned animal home, but they need more than love to get better. Many of them need intensive care, and that costs money. Some need surgery. To make things worse, bringing a sick animal home can make all of your own pets sick. We need to be careful and know what we are doing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

We know this looks like a sad scenario, but there are many things that any person can do to help. \u201cIf you want to have a pet, your life is going to change for the next 15 years or so. You need to be OK with that. Go to a shelter and adopt, instead of giving money to puppy mills. If you have no energy for a puppy or a kitten, adopt a grown pet. That will also give you a better idea of the pet\u2019s size and temperament,\u201d Azevedo said. \u201cYou can help, even if you don\u2019t want a pet, by volunteering or donating to a local shelter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monttess pointed out that desexing animals is the only way to control the population of strays. \u201cSometimes, I take a cat to the vet just to be desexed and put it back on the street once it recovers. I know it sounds cruel, but my shelter is too full. At least that animal will not be procreating on the streets. There are times when you just have to do what you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there is nothing wrong with taking a break from our harsh reality and watching adorable animals online, it is important that we do not forget that they are not just fluffy things. They are complex beings that trust us and, thanks to our decision to domesticate them, depend on us.<\/p>\n

*Francinette lives in northeast Brazil and depends on donations to continue her work. You can find her on Instagram: @abrigodafran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pet videos have become super popular during lockdown. There are adorable clips all over the internet, and they bring a bit of joy even to the grumpiest person. Watching this kind of content can get someone through a difficult day. It is hard to believe that there could be a dark side to such an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8242,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6755\/revisions\/8242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}