Geronimo Is Hauled Away for Destruction Under a Government Policy.
OPINION – by Mark; Co Founder WAV.
Before we start – A new petition has been established, calling for the resignation of George Eustace MP; Defra Minster. This follows on from the murder of Geronimo on 31/8.
You will receive a response and need to click to verify your e mail; otherwise your sig. will not count.
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I live in the South East of England. But today, 31/8/21 has been a bit of a turning point in the British animal rights movement. Today, being the day that ‘Geronimo’ the Alpaca was murdered by the British government as they considered that he was infected with bovine TB. (bTB).
His solitary death, which did not take place where he was kept, and after a lot of ‘rough man handling’ by well disguised, face mask wearing (obviously avoiding identification), protective coverall wearing Defra officials; is yet one more pointless death in the name of Bovine Tuberculosis. Did we see all the campaigners out to fight the destruction of Geronimo wearing protective clothing and hidden behind face masks ? – no; there is no need now; Defra are in effect just attempting to hide their faces, with the support of police protection, from identification by the animal welfare supporters of Geronimo who have battled in his defence..
There is talk today, 1/9, that Geronimo was taken away in a horsebox, so that he could be destroyed, and then immediately taken away for cremation. This flies in opposition to the autopsy which is supposed to be being undertaken, but without any outside observers – see further on for more.
For years now we in the (animal welfare) movement have had to sit and watch as tens of thousands of badgers have, just like Geronimo the Alpaca toady, been slaughtered by a fanatical; one faced government that basically ignores all evidence and statistics. The mass murder of a ‘protected species’ named the ‘badger’; is an issue which is very hard to swallow for the tens of thousands who spoke and campaigned in Geronimo’s defence, as well as those who still speak in defence of badgers.
For the record to put some figures on the table; unconfirmed reports, but those obtained by the ‘League Against Cruel Sports – LACS’; suggest that in the 2018 autumn alone, 32,000 ‘protected’ badgers were slaughtered by the government, operating under the command of Defra; Minister George Eustace MP.
Miss Macdonald, Geronimo’s dedicated owner, had received support from around the world, with more than 140,000 people signing a petition calling against Geronimo’s destruction. In the UK, any petition, regardless of the subject, containing more than 100,000 signatures should be debated in the House of Commons; where MP’s take residence.
Miss Macdonald insisted the Enferplex test; allegedly showing Geronimo did have bTB, was flawed and that Geronimo twice tested positive because he had repeatedly been primed, yes primed, with tuberculin – a sterile liquid containing the growth products of or specific substances extracted from the tubercle bacillus and used in the diagnosis of tuberculosis in bovine TB.
‘All the time they were simply planning to murder him’: Geronimo’s devastated owner blasts DEFRA and demands a witness at alpaca’s post-mortem after he was dragged away from her farm under police escort and executed
Geronimo the alpaca has been executed after Defra officials today seized the animal and drove him away
Police clashed with animal rights protesters defending the alpaca at the farm in Wickwar this morning
The High Court ruled Geronimo must be destroyed for testing positive for bovine tuberculosis twice
But its owner Helen Macdonald has long insisted that the Enferplex test used on the alpaca is flawed
Geronimo the alpaca’s devastated owner has slammed Defra’s ‘bad faith and duplicity’ and demanded an independent witness be present at his post-mortem after he was today seized from his Gloucestershire farm by a Government team in boiler suits and masks and executed.
Helen Macdonald, a veterinary nurse who brought Geronimo to England from New Zealand in 2017, accused Environment Secretary George Eustice and other senior Defra officials of ignoring her pleas for ‘constructive dialogue’ for two weeks.
The four-year battle to save Geronimo after he twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis ended this morning and the sad moment he was tied up and carted away was captured by the live webcam set up to watch the South American mammal a month ago.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed around an hour later they had put the animal down, just days before the destruction warrant it won at the High Court expired.
A post-mortem will be undertaken by veterinary pathologists from the from the premises and euthanised by staff from the Animal. Defra said this will be followed by a bacteriological culture of selected tissue samples, which can take up to three months.
Speaking at her farm in Wickwar, Miss Macdonald said: ‘All the time they were simply planning to murder Geronimo. This is yet another appalling demonstration of bad faith and duplicity by the Secretary of State and everyone at Defra.’
She added that she is ‘absolutely disgusted’ with the Government, which she said had used a ‘falsified test that has no validity’ on the alpaca.
Police clashed with protesters defending the alpaca at the farm this morning as more than 30 uniformed officers and Defra officials tied a rope around Geronimo before dragging him to a trailer and driving him away for destruction.
‘This morning, Geronimo has been manhandled out of my farm,’ Miss Macdonald said. Asked how force was used, she replied: ‘You’ll have to ask the poor witnesses that witnessed him being rounded up and dragged into a horsebox. These are barbaric actions of unscientific, abusive people in Government.’
She called for Mr Eustace and Lord Benyon, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defra, to go to the farm to speak to her, as well as an independent witness to be present when a post-mortem examination is carried out on the alpaca.
Uniformed officers wearing facemasks could be seen speaking to three people dressed in blue overalls and goggles outside the farm in Wickwar at 10.45am and tying a rope around Geronimo
‘Over the last two weeks we have tried to engage constructively and persistently with George Eustice, Lord Benyon, George Eustice’s special advisors, senior Defra civil servants and multiple MPs and government scientists,’ she said. ‘Now we know they were not only ignoring our persistent pleas for constructive dialogue, but had no intention of engaging with us.’
Defra said the alpaca was euthanised by staff from the Animal and Plant Health Agency in order to control the spread of TB. Miss Macdonald insists his positive tests were false. A Defra spokesman confirmed that Geronimo has never tested negative for bovine TB, and that another test for the disease will be conducted during the post-mortem.
Webcam footage showed Geronimo make a break for freedom from his ‘captors’ and run into a field with other alpacas. Its supporters – the ‘Alpaca Angels’, who have kept watch over the stud – previously vowed to thwart the executioners by using deploy (think that should be ‘decoy’ – WAV) alpacas.
Geronimo has been in isolation, but four similar-looking alpacas are in an adjacent field with an open gate in between. Today, several officials followed the alpaca carrying rope and chased the pack around the meadow. Geronimo was then lead back into his barn before he was taken into a horsebox and driven away under police escort.
Supporters had been camping out at the farm to try to prevent officials arriving to destroy Geronimo and some were seen talking to police as the animal was removed. One woman was arrested after spraying officers with a water pistol, but was quickly de-arrested. Others sobbed after Geronimo was rounded up and driven away, and accused Defra of breaking the law.
Miss Macdonald, who previously vowed to stand in front of a marksman to protect him, was nowhere to be seen as the alpaca was taken away.
She claimed she had been ‘duped’ by the Government and had expected Defra vets to give Geronimo a stay of execution. But when police arrived, Miss Macdonald said she had no choice but to leave as she ‘would have been arrested for obstruction’. She also claimed that Defra ‘will try and fudge the post-mortem’, calling it a ‘complete set-up’.
Miss Macdonald insists the Enferplex test is flawed and says Geronimo twice tested positive because he had repeatedly been primed with tuberculin – a purified protein derivative of bovine TB bacteria. She has received support from around the world, with more than 140,000 people signing a petition against Geronimo’s destruction.
Earlier this month, a High Court judge refused her lawyer’s application for a temporary injunction to stop the destruction order and reopen the case.
As well as alpacas, badgers have been a victim of the fight against bovine TB, with mass culling employed to stop the spread since 2013, sparking a huge public backlash. The Government said 27,000 cattle were slaughtered in 2020 to curb the spread of the disease.
Pen Farthing’s friend Dominic Dyer, an animal rights campaigner, tweeted: ‘My thoughts are with Helen Macdonald one of the most bravest & courageous people I know that fought a David & Goliath battle with Defra to save the life of her precious Geronimo’.
Downing Street has expressed sympathy for Miss Macdonald, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman saying: ‘It’s obviously highly distressing for someone to lose animals to TB and that’s a situation that farmers sadly have to face.
‘Our sympathies are with Ms Macdonald and any others that are affected by this terrible disease.’
In a statement, Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said: ‘This is a terribly sad situation and our sympathies remain with all those affected by this devastating disease. No one wants to have to cull infected animals if it can be avoided, but we need to follow the scientific evidence and cull animals that have tested positive for bTB to minimise spread of this insidious disease and ultimately eradicate the biggest threat to animal health in this country.
‘Not only is this essential to protect the livelihoods of our farming industry and rural communities, but it is also necessary to avoid more TB cases in humans.’
The destruction warrant was valid until Saturday, September 4 and Miss Macdonald had previously called on Environment Secretary George Eustice to allow Geronimo to be tested for a third time or let him live to aid research into the disease.
One supporter named Ray Puttock said despite the tragic news, the Geronimo saga has brought many supporters together. He said: ‘We’ve all become very good friends here. People here weren’t my friends when they turned up, now they’ll always be my friends.’
On the heavy police presence, he said: ”I tried coming in two different ways and got stopped at both. I saw five cars and three police motorbikes. That’s without the vehicles that were here.
‘It would be very interesting to ask the Avon and Somerset control room today ‘how grade one many grade one blue shouts were you unable to attend because of all the officers that were at the alpacas?’
‘They are assisting the state, they are not assisting the people, the community they’re supposed to serve. Just disgraceful.’
An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: ‘We can confirm officers are in attendance at a farm in the Wickwar area of South Gloucestershire this morning to support the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), who are executing a court warrant.
‘We’ll always support our partner agencies to carry out their lawful duties and our role is to prevent a breach of the peace and to ensure public safety is protected.’
A Defra spokesman refused to comment on ‘operational matters’ when approached by MailOnline, but said in a statement: ‘We are sympathetic to Ms Macdonald’s situation – just as we are with everyone with animals affected by this terrible disease.
‘It is for this reason that the testing results and options for Geronimo have been very carefully considered by Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and its veterinary experts, as well as passing several stages of thorough legal scrutiny.
‘Bovine tuberculosis is one of the greatest animal health threats we face today and causes devastation and distress for farming families and rural communities across the country while costing the taxpayer around £100million every year.
‘Therefore, while nobody wants to cull animals, we need to do everything we can to tackle this disease, stop it spreading and to protect the livelihoods of those affected.’
Miss Macdonald said: ‘I fled, if I had stayed there they would have arrested me for obstruction. That would have played into their hands because I wouldn’t have been able to keep fighting for him. They took him alive – we’ve been totally duped. It’s an outrage.’
‘We don’t know where they’ve taken him but there are still a few hours to try to save his life. We have got to get this stopped.’
She sent a text message to reporters at the farm which said: ‘They took him alive, get after Defra’. Her Twitter account @alpacapower posted: ‘DEFRA have arrived! We are asking once again for an urgent meeting with George Eustice. Please don’t execute Geronimo.’
Campaigner Graham Edwards, 54, said: ‘They have broken their own laws and protocols – if the animal has TB they are not allowed to move it. It should have been slaughtered here but they wouldn’t do it because there are cameras here to record everything that happened.’
Mr Edwards, from Reading, has spent two weeks camping at the farm, said: ‘They came mob-handed – there were more than 30 police here. They pushed through a fence, they came to do a job and there was no stopping them. I was told the vets were Spanish – not even English.
‘It was supposed to have been put down here, not taken away. We didn’t expect them to take it away. They are a bunch of hypocrites – I’m gutted, we all are.’
More than a dozen leading vets called on the Government to halt the culling of Geronimo after questioning his tuberculosis diagnosis, and instead urged the animal to be studied for science.
The 13 vets – who include a former senior official at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – said they had ‘grave reservations’ about the two positive tests the animal returned in 2017 and they ‘may well represent a false positive’.
Among the signatories to the letter are Professor Ranald Munroe, former head of pathology for Defra’s Veterinary Laboratories Agency and Dr Iain McGill, veterinary scientific adviser to Ms Macdonald.
In the letter, they write: ‘It is our professional opinion that the diagnosis in Geronimo’s case is unsafe, and may well represent a false positive, due to the fact that Geronimo had been repeatedly ‘antibody boosted’ or primed – five times in his lifetime with four injections of bovine tuberculin and one of avian tuberculin in the run up to the final Enferplex blood test which confirmed the ‘positive’ diagnosis of ‘suspicion of disease’.’
They said Mr Eustice had the power to overturn Geronimo’s destruction warrant and order he be observed for scientific research.
‘We could learn a great deal from Geronimo were he to be compassionately studied, but very little from his death,’ they said.
‘We believe Geronimo’s case shines a light on the shortcomings of the current bTB testing policy, and gives an opportunity for a comprehensive review of the bovine TB testing and control policy, based on science and for the health and wellbeing of farmers, cattle, alpacas, badgers, the environment and the public.
‘Given the mental anguish that Helen MacDonald has had to endure these past four years, and the publicity surrounding the case, we would urge Secretary of State for Defra, George Eustice and his team to discuss matters with us and Ms MacDonald to find a way out of this impasse.’
Miss Macdonald had called for an urgent meeting with the Government, pleading: ‘We are requesting an urgent meeting with Environment Secretary George Eustice, and really hope to hear back from Defra.
‘It is naturally a terribly traumatic time for Geronimo and myself, and everyone else who has been supporting us over the last few weeks. But we remain confident that there are ways forward to save Geronimo, and that Defra will find a way to do the right thing.’
Last week, more than a dozen vets said they have ‘grave reservations’ about the two positive tests the eight-year-old animal returned in 2017 and that they ‘may well represent a false positive’.
Earlier this month, a High Court judge refused her lawyer’s application for a temporary injunction to stop the destruction order and reopen the case.
Miss Macdonald said that when Defra officials do attend her farm to euthanise Geronimo, she would not break the law.
Supporters have also been camping out at her farm in case officials arrive to destroy him. They have been receiving regular deliveries of supplies from well-wishers, including tea bags, coffee, sugar, and vegan food.
As well as alpacas, badgers have been a victim of the fight against bovine TB, with mass culling employed to stop the spread since 2013, sparking a huge public backlash.
The Government insists that all the evidence on the animal’s condition has been ‘looked at very carefully’.
It is later evening here in England now (2130hrs), but I have just been watching the badgers in my garden having something to eat. There were 2 this evening; probably a boar (male) and a sow (female). I give them something to eat every night; as it gives me the pleasure of having the visit, and by now, I feel confident that they know through instinct that they will have a nice feed, and also, they are safe and free from injury in my garden.
I am lucky, I know, as a lot of people never even see a live badger, let alone have them in their garden every night. They arrive by way of a pathway, or ‘run’ located in woodland at the rear of the house. They normally live as family groups in ‘setts’, homes which are handed down through the generations; sometimes being centuries old. Under British law, they are a protected animal, and any person must never interfere with a sett or the animals which live in it. Quite right too.
Each night I set out food for them to come and enjoy – they love savoury little cheese flavoured savoury nibbles, crunchy peanut breakfast cereal, loads of chopped up apples from the garden trees, grapes (their favourite I think); and a chocolate covered peanut bar finely cut up into small bits. I throw it all into an area of about 2 square metres, so that can forage for the food, as well of giving them both an equal share in what is on offer. Sometimes, when I feel extra good, I make and cut up a peanut butter sandwich for them, as badgers and peanut ‘things’ go well together.
Badgers are also known as ‘Brocks’; but you find that 99 people out of 100 still refer to them simply as the ‘badger’. Badgers are members of the ‘Mustelid’ family, and are closely related to weasels and otters. Mustelid comes from the Latin word for the weasel; or ‘mustela’; which is from the word for mouse. But they are anything but a mouse; they are normally about (I would estimate) 50-60cm in length, and are utterly distinctive by having a beautiful black and white striped head.
Badgers don’t drink a lot, despite water being available for them. Instead, they get their fluid intake from the huge amount for earthworms that is their favourite food. In dry spells this can be a problem for them to find worms; but hey, this is England; and it is almost always raining here; which brings the worms to the surface of lawns etc.
If really pushed, badgers will also eat mice, rats, toads, wasps, beetles and even hedgehogs. I love seeing hedgehogs as they are more rare nowdays; but you either have one or the other, as hedgehogs and badgers do not mix ! If a badger does eat a hedgehog, it only leaves the skin and prickles; a kind of baked potato leftover.
The wonderful black and white stripes down their head lets other animals know that they are fierce and strong; and will defend themselves. As a pair foraging in the garden; I have never seen any aggression by them to the 5 or 6 foxes which visit every night. In fact, they sometimes are within easy reach of each other; but my own experience is that they take each other without any problems or showing signs of aggression.
Badgers of one family group have a ‘clan odour’; and they communicate with others in their clan by means of a musky smell which is secreted from a gland located under their tail. Every badger has its own clan odour, which is used for used for establishing family identity as well as scent marking. ‘Clan odours’ are made by all the badgers in any sett continually swapping scents with each other; just like us having a perfume or after shave which is regular to others about us as individuals.
Female badgers, or ‘sows’; can mate with several ‘boars’, or males of the species, even in just one year. They can mate at any time of the year, which is a little unusual, as Spring tends to be the normal time for wildlife. Spring is when all the multi fathered young are born to the sow. She is unique in that she can ‘hold’ fertilized eggs in her body, switching off her pregnancy until there is adequate food source available for the young – now is that not amazing ?
Most badgers die before they reach the age of seven years; and only 60% of the young cubs will make it into a second year of life. The UK has the highest concentration of badgers of any country; with over 300,000; the 80’s seeing a rise of around 70%. This is despite a culling programme organised by the government on this ‘protected species’, in the belief that they spread Bovine tuberculosis in cattle. This is really a policy to please farmers, but is something which is shown by all the scientific studies to have no real effect. Culling badgers causes the family group to break up, and they spread far and wide, which is not the way to control disease spread, even if they were to carry it, which many (including myself) say is utter rubbish. Culling is undertaken simply to get votes from landowners and farmers; nothing else.
Well I hope you have enjoyed a few facts about the badgers of Britain; I will always act in their defence, especially where the culling is orchestrated. I hope to continue watching and enjoying ‘my badger’ visits every night; and long may it continue.
Ex British Royal Marine Commando Pen Farthing (who has served tours in Afghan) who founded NOWZAD animal rescue in Kabul, Afghanistan, is now on his way back to the UK, complete with all the homeless dogs and cats from the shelter,
Pen as a Marine Commando with a stray dog in Afghjanistan
He was helped hugely by British soldiers in Kabul (airport) to load the animals on a special charter plane which late last night left KABUL in the early hours. We thank the British army and the Ministry of Defence for allowing this to get approval.
Sadly; because of restrictions imposed by the Taliban, Afghan staff from the NOWZAD were unable to get approval to enter the airport and board the flight to the UK. They were forced to remain.
Things are continuing with the UK government to try and get these workers out of Afghanistan.
Pen and the animals are coming into the UK, but first flying via Tash Kent in Uzbekistan.
We don’t know at present when they will all arrive in the UK.
I don’t think that there will be any problem in finding forever homes in the UK for all the animals en route.
Some have argued that humans should be given priority over animals; but it was always the position that if approval was given for boarding an RAF rescue flight, the animals would be shipped in the aircraft hold and that aircraft seats would still be given to humans. This was not the case as a special aircraft was chartered.
Some USA commentators have criticised the Brits for wanting to help the animals instead of humans. The UK has flown out thousands of Afghan citizens for residence in the UK during the airlift operation over the last week or so. Huge C-17 airlifters have been loaded up with Afghan citizens destined for the UK. Children were given toys on their arrival – see photo below.
Yes, the Brits also have a real thing about helping animals as well as humans – both are sentient beings.
There is an old saying:
A nation is judged by the way it treats its animals.
Pen fought in Afghan as a marine commando; but he set up NOWZAD there to help stray animals. He has seen the human side of things, and now wants to prioritise helping animals.
We wish him and all the team the very best.
Mark
Afghan children are given toys by RAF personnel as they arrive at Brize, a British military airfield.
WAV Comment – with the terrible situation currently in Afghanistan, there have been concerns about the animals kept in Kabul Zoo. It seems that all the animals are currently ok – Both the Mayhew and One World Actors Animal Rescues (OWAP), and the Zoological Society of London are in touch with Kabul Zoo daily, cooperating to help the welfare of the animals.
The most important news (see below), is that the zoo is still in operation, and the staff continue to care for the animals the best they can under the circumstances.
The zoo is currently NOT in any immediate danger.
They have supplies of food and water and are in the process of acquiring further supplies..
Regarding Kabul Zoo
CWI is a proud supporting member of the Asia for Animals Coalition.
This morning they sent all members an email with details regarding the situation at Kabul Zoo. We are providing the full text of that email here to stop the spread of misinformation.
Please know that we have no additional details, and we are not actively engaged in this situation. Any other updates will also be provided here and in our social media.
WHAT IS THE SITUATION AT KABUL ZOO?
The zoo is still in operation, and the staff continue to care for the animals the best they can under the circumstances.
The zoo is currently not in any immediate danger.
They have supplies of food and water and are in the process of acquiring further supplies..
ARE THERE CONCERNS ABOUT THE ANIMALS?
Given that the situation in Afghanistan is unstable, there are concerns for the animals at Kabul Zoo. However, as of 25th August we can confirm that zoo staff are working as normal and the animals are safe.
WHO IS WORKING ON THIS ISSUE?
Both The Mayhew and One World Actors Animal Rescues (OWAP), and the Zoological Society of London are in touch with Kabul Zoo.
These organizations are not directly involved in the zoo’s activities, but are in direct contact with the zoo’s director. The Asia for Animal Coalition’s 22 core member organisations are here to support these organisations and are monitoring the situation.
Director of Kabul Zoo, Mr. AzizGul Saqib, has confirmed that, although the situation is fluid and the future as yet uncertain, that the animals have food and water. Mr Saquib stated:
” We providing the complete standard menue of the food” and that the Zoo staff and vets are still on-site and tending to the animals..”We will be in contact if we need any thing for the animals”
STATEMENT from the Zoological Society of London
ZSL London Zoo, part of international conservation charity ZSL, is committed to providing support to Kabul Zoo. The two zoos have worked together over the years, with our teams sharing expert knowledge and experience. With the rapidly changing situation in Afghanistan, ZSL London Zoo’s team remain in contact with Kabul Zoo at this time and will continue to provide support and advice whenever and wherever possible.
STATEMENT from THE MAYHEW
Mayhew is a UK registered animal welfare charity, working primarily with dogs and cats. Our work in Kabul with our branch, Mayhew Afghanistan, is delivery of a mass canine rabies vaccination programme and a TNR programme for the city’s free-roaming dog population. We do not have a shelter there.
The safety of our staff is a priority at this time, but we are hoping to resume our operations if and when circumstances allow and it is safe to do so. There will still be free-roaming dogs in Kabul and rabies will raise its ugly head again.
Mayhew’s relationship with Kabul Zoo started in 2002 when we were part of a group of NGOs that helped rebuild the zoo. Dr Mohammadzai DVM, our Afghanistan Country Director, has facilitated connections for Kabul Zoo with ZSL London and also provided training for vets and carried out more complex surgeries for them. We have a warm relationship with the Zoo Director.
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
Share news only from trustworthy sources.
Please support organisations working on the ground.
We are currently seeking advice on the best organisation to receive donations in support of Kabul Zoo. This will be updated as soon as we have more information.
YouTube, Facebook and TikTok ‘earning millions’ from horrific animal-cruelty videos
‘These corporations have the power to remove these vile videos, and it’s reprehensible that they haven’t,’ says charity boss
Thousands of animals globally are tortured, maimed and subjected to prolonged suffering for grisly videos that earn money for the world’s biggest social media platforms, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok, according to a year-long investigation.
The horrors include baby monkeys being buried alive or tormented; kittens being stepped on or set alight; people eating live animals and puppies and ducks being crushed to death by snakes.
In videos logged over just three months last year, it’s estimated that YouTube earned up to $12m (£8.8m) from the sharing of animal cruelty content, and the creators themselves earned nearly $15m (£11m).
The stream of videos depicting cruelty “on a monumental scale” – seen by billions of viewers – has prompted calls for social-media bosses to shut down rogue accounts and take responsibility for their content.
Between July last year and this month, a coalition of animal-welfare organisations working in Asia documented 5,480 links to videos containing animal cruelty on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok, posted as entertainment, but also earning money from hits and shares.
The investigators said these videos alone had had about 5.3 billion views, highlighting the scale of the problem.
Analysis of the data showed that producers of the videos can become almost “celebrity-like”, with some channels gathering millions of followers, according to the Asia For Animals Coalition.
Instagram has previously been condemned for allowing videos and images of animal cruelty – some of them violent – on its website, masquerading as entertainment.
Indonesia, the US, Australia, Cambodia, South Africa and South Korea featured highly as countries where cruelty content was made, the new study found.
The UK was the 14th-highest country or region for creation of cruelty content – which was mostly hunting-related but also the deliberate baiting of birds and squirrels for shooting – but was the third-highest country for cruelty content being uploaded.
A video from Thailand last year featured a chimp dressed up spraying disinfectant; another showed a puppy being crushed by a python so the filmmakers could stage a rescue, and a third recorded a dog being set on a live kitten – all on YouTube.
The report authors write: “We documented shocking footage of individual wild animals kept as pets and repeatedly abused on camera. Kittens and other young animals were set alight as the filmmakers laughed.
“Live burials, partial drownings, beatings and psychological torment were also documented.”
YouTube had the most cruelty videos, the investigators said, but Facebook has allowed encrypted groups and pages where unacceptable content can be shared undetected. On Facebook and YouTube, most cases were “obvious and intentional”, the report said.
Birds, dogs and cats are most commonly abused, but some species used are classed as threatened, including pangolins, bears, gibbons, pythons and macaque monkeys.
Adverts are embedded in cruelty content, so companies and organisations were unwittingly profiting, including several animal-welfare and conservation groups – some of which have since taken action, the report notes.
Alan Knight, chief executive of International Animal Rescue, said: “It is inexcusable for social media companies to turn a blind eye to the sickening scenes of animal abuse posted on their platforms. It is their moral responsibility to crack down on content showing animals forced to suffer for entertainment and financial gain.
“There’s no doubt these media corporations have the power to remove these vile videos, and it’s reprehensible that they haven’t done so already.
“They feed the basest instincts of a depraved minority and must be denied a platform and an audience to stamp them out.”
The coalition is calling on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and other social media platforms to work with experts to develop “robust” monitoring systems to identify and remove cruel content without relying on viewers reporting it.
The organisations say that even trying to talk to bosses at the online platforms is difficult. Adam Parascandola, of Humane Society International, described the content as “deeply disturbing but largely overlooked”, saying: “The devastating data revealed by this only scratches the surface in exposing the shocking extent of cruelty promoted on social media.
“Now more than ever, it’s time for social media platforms to stop profiting from animal suffering and instead take action to end this devastating cruelty for clicks.”
In the past, the social-media channels have insisted they do not allow cruelty to be shown, and remove content breaching their guidelines.
But the report authors say they have seen videos remaining live despite being reported multiple times, or channels that were shut down starting up again under a different guise.
Nick Stewart, of World Animal Protection, said: “Exploitation of wildlife is happening on a monumental scale, impacting the welfare of billions of individual animals. We must call out companies that are complicit in this exploitation and urge them to take responsibility for a solution.”
A TikTok spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on the specifics as we have not seen the specific cases. However, as a general principle, our community guidelines make clear that we do not tolerate animal cruelty on our platform, and we take action when people violate these rules – up to and including permanently banning them from the platform. We use a combination of technology and human moderation to identify and remove content that breaches our community guidelines.”
Those guidelines ban “animal cruelty and gore”, as well as “dismembered, mutilated, charred or burned animal remains” and animal slaughter.
The Independent also asked Google, which owns YouTube and Facebook, to comment, but did not receive a response.
A Royal Marine veteran, who founded an animal sanctuary in Kabul, has made an impassioned plea to the UK government to help his staff leave Afghanistan.
Paul “Pen” Farthing said he would not leave them behind to “suffer a fate” that the West has put upon them.
His charity, Nowzad, wants ministers to “do the right thing” by flying 71 people to the UK from Afghanistan after the Taliban seized the capital city.
The Foreign Office said it was in contact with Mr Farthing to offer help.
Mr Farthing set up the charity 15 years ago, helping to increase awareness of animal welfare in the country and to rescue stray dogs and abused donkeys.
His clinic trained Afghanistan’s first fully-qualified female vets but now he fears for their futures.
“I don’t think there are words to describe what they are feeling right now,” he told the BBC News, from Kabul.
Mr Farthing, who served with the Royal Marines as a commando in the Afghan province of Helmand in the mid-2000s, said the West “should hang our heads in shame for what we have just done to this country”.
Dogs are often made to fight one another in Afghanistan
“We gave people hope, aspirations, dreams for the future. In a matter of weeks, we have just ripped them from them.”
He said he was not hopeful the Taliban regime had changed for the better.
For now, the eyes of the world were watching the Taliban, he said.
But in two months’ time, the international community would be gone, the US would have left the airport and no-one would be watching – and if they did go back to their ways, no-one was coming to interfere in Afghanistan again, he added.
The British and US servicemen and women who died in Afghanistan – including two of his marines – had died “in vain”, he said.
“We have achieved nothing now – we have just thrown everything away.”
His clinic trained Afghanistan’s first fully-qualified female vets but now he fears for their futures.
“I don’t think there are words to describe what they are feeling right now,” he told the BBC News, from Kabul.
“What do you say to someone who is probably going to be told they will have to marry a Taliban fighter and end up living at home, never being allowed to leave and just raising children with someone they absolutely detest?”
World Animals Voice 