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SMACC AND WSAVA
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Partnership between The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) and the Asia for Animals Coalition (AfA)
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The World Small Animal Veterinary Service (WSAVA) and the Asia for Animals Coalition (AfA) have developed a working relationship with a focus on online animal cruelty content. The relationship emerged in response to a significant number of online cruelty reports received by both organizations, highlighting the need to raise awareness and offer guidance on the issue, both to the general public and the veterinary community.
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A wide variety of animal cruelty can be found online, especially on social media. This includes everything from extreme physical abuse to videos showing inadequate care for animals. Domestic animals like cats and dogs are often the victims, but other species such as primates, reptiles, and birds also suffer in this content.
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The Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) is a working group of the Asia for Animals Coalition, founded in 2020. Its members share the same mission, to address the growing problem of animal cruelty content on social media platforms as one united voice. SMACC works by gathering and analyzing data on such content, producing reports to raise awareness, and engaging with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to mitigate the spread of this harmful material. The coalition also educates the public on identifying and reporting online cruelty, while collaborating with other organizations to combat these issues more effectively.
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WSAVA is a global organization representing small animal veterinarians from various countries. It aims to advance the health and welfare of companion animals by providing education, resources, and best practices to veterinary professionals worldwide. WSAVA works on standardizing veterinary care, promoting scientific research, and fostering collaboration among veterinarians across its member associations, which represent over 200,000 veterinarians globally. Its initiatives often focus on issues such as animal welfare, disease control, and improving veterinary education and clinical standards.
As social media users, it is crucial that individuals take appropriate action to counter such content when they come across it, and have it removed from social platforms. Reporting content to the relevant social media platforms is one of the most important actions you can take.
SMACC members
Follow SMACC’s Five Steps:
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Be aware: Educate yourself on different forms of cruelty, as some content may appear innocent but involves suffering behind the scenes, like animals being dressed or trained for entertainment
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​Do not watch: Avoid viewing animal cruelty videos, as every view helps spread the content more widely.
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Do not engage: Refrain from commenting or reacting, even negatively, since any interaction helps promote the content through social media algorithms.
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Do not share: Sharing, even with the intent to raise awareness, only increases its reach and popularity.
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Report it: Use the platform’s reporting functions to flag the content. Though removal may take time, consistent reporting helps platforms address these violations.
You can read more about social media cruelty content and the work of SMACC here:
Who we are | SMACC (smaccoalition.com)
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