Animal welfare organizations have warned that social media abusers are using images and videos of injured and dead animals and pets to spread their message, contributing to the rising rates of animal abuse in Wales and England.

Experts expressed alarm over the rise in less severe instances of animal cruelty committed online, such making fun of pets on Instagram and TikTok for their “funny” replies.

The RSPCA issued the cautions in response to a report that revealed a 23% rise in animal attacks involving weapons, such as air guns, slingshots, catapults, or crossbows, from 300 in 2022 to 370 in the previous year.

According to Geoff Edmond, the wildlife officer for the organization, last year saw a rise in catapult attacks, especially by young people, as reported by the RSPCA and the Essex and London police.

“We were seeing this increase in people targeting swans, geese, ducks and other water fowl, even squirrels, with catapults for fun,” he said. “This year we’ve had a fox attacked with a catapult down in Kent, and that was teenagers involved, and a hedgehog killed in Newbury.”

The trend was continuing, with evidence emerging of attacks being coordinated and shared online, said Edmond. “A lot of wildlife crime has changed because [perpetrators] can utilise social media to show what to do. People use social media to celebrate when they go out and set dogs on badgers. You see these videos on TikTok and other social media networks.”

The trend has continued despite social media firms facing the threat of substantial fines if they fail to remove animal cruelty content from their platforms under the Online Safety Act 2023.

Earlier this year, a Sky News investigation revealed that children – some of primary school age – are filming themselves using catapults to kill and torture animals in a UK-wide network on WhatsApp.

It found hundreds of members of catapult groups on WhatsApp, where photos and videos of animals killed or injured, often placed alongside the weapons used, are shared. In a video shared on one group, a deer with a severe head injury lies twitching on the ground, having been shot with a catapult by a child.

Edmond said he hoped Operation Lakeshot, a police-led partnership initiative the charity has helped to develop with the Essex and Metropolitan forces, would improve efforts to tackle such wildlife crimes. “One thing that struck me with WhatsApp images that Sky uncovered was you can tell [by the voice notes posted with videos and images in the chat] they’re having fun,” Edmond added.

"A stark reminder of the dire consequences of failing to instill empathy towards animals in children," stated Elisa Allen, vice-president of programs at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), about the number of young suspects. Concerns over animal abuse that is publicized online for amusement have been brought up by other groups.

According to Madison Rogers, head of advocacy, campaigns, and government relations at Cats Protection, some of the videos posted on TikTok and Instagram have received millions of likes and views. There's the one where folks tap the cat until they receive a response. People say it's humorous, yet it seems distressed. The cats will occasionally turn around and attack.

The RSPCA’s latest annual Kindness Index, a national survey of attitudes towards animal welfare, found 43% of 16- to 17-year-olds had witnessed cruelty online in the past year, almost double the proportion of the adult population (22%), with Instagram, TikTok and X being the main platforms on which they saw it.

Gemma Hope, the RSPCA’s assistant director for policy, advocacy and evidence, said the survey had also highlighted two worrying trends: a growing lack of recognition of animal sentience and a decline in affection for animals among teenagers.

“Over the three years we’ve been doing the survey, the understanding about animal sentience has decreased,” she said. “If people don’t think animals can feel pain and have feelings, then they don’t necessarily think if they do something horrible, like shoot a crossbow at them, that it has an impact.”