Police officers are increasingly involved in cases of ( suspected) animal cruelty. Bureau Beke has investigated cases of alleged abuse and neglect and finds that there has been a significant increase. But not all cases eventually come to attention of the police. The animal emergency hotline 1-4-4 have between 2000 and 6000 calls jsut just in the Netherlands each month?from people who suspect animal abuse. In several thousand cases a year animal cruelty is brought forward to the Public Prosecution services.
Social media is increasingly being used as a means to raise awareness and call for citizen investigations. Obviously risks of privacy violation and vigilantism are lurking. Here are some recent cases in which this discussion became prominent.
Case: dead dog Argos is linked with fatal stabbing
The dog of the Frisian family Bons, who died in December after being abused by his keepers, aroused the offenders because he had stolen a piece of roast. The 6-year-old Argentine Dog named Argos was severely beaten by two Leeuwarders of 44 and 53 years. He stabbed, beaten with a chain and kicked. Officers found the badly injured animal on the street and employees of the animal ambulance took care of Argos, but a vet finally decided to euthanize him.
A short time later, a 46-year-old man died after a stabbing in Leeuwarden. Immediately this news was spread on Facebook, Twitter and other internet pages with a link to the mistreatment of Argos, on December 28 in the same street. The police deny that any relationship exists between the two cases. Spokesman Paul Heidanus?said: “We see no link” The suspect in the fatal stabbing is stuck in jail.
On a news website viewers nevertheless posted comments such as: ‘Flowers for the person who did this” And another said: “If the victim is the one that has beaten Argos to death, then the perpetrator is a HERO.” The news?on Facebook had 939 ‘likes’ or expressions of approval.
Normal reactions online are by far outnumbered. Reactions build up, says a spokesman for the suspects. “The suspects have their own unique story. But they can’t tell it to anyone.” The two gentleman have to appear before the judge on March 13. They no longer feel safe in their own home and have now moved elsewhere. The men deny the dog stole a piece of roast from the table. According to them, Argos suddenly attacked another male dog. The Argentine dog had the animal in its mouth had then panic started and the situation got out of hand. “All these details will be addressed in court” said the spokesman of the two. “Until then the suspects need to keep silent.” Meanwhile on the Internet the names of the two suspects are shared. The police keep a close watch on the discussion on social media, said spokesman Paul Heidanus. “People should not play judge and jury.”
Maria Bons, owner of Argos, was summoned to remove the names of the suspects from Facebook after the death of the dog. “But when messages are shared, the poster no longer has any influence,” said Heidanus. The rise of social media is a growing risk of vigilantism. For example, people vowed to tackle the suspects in the Argos case on Facebook. It is a trend the police has to deal with agrees Heidanus.
In particular cruelty to animals raises many strong emotions. When three sheep and six lambs died of violence in March last year in a sheepfold, the public also responded violently. Civil prize money was awarded to find a mysterious horse killer. Recently, a second prize money campaign was launched in Limburg, and Henk ten Napel indicates that he is not afraid of vigilantism.
10,000 euro prize money for tips on an animal abuser
The foundation “Senseless Violence to Animals” has offered a reward of $ 10,000 for information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators who abused dozens of horses. The prize money is funded by an animal lover.
According to the foundation since this spring at least forty horses were abused. It happened throughout the country, but most of the incidents were in Limburg. The foundation also suspect that the perpetrators are from this region. The horses are maimed with a knife at their genitals and abdomen. Henk ten Napel, president?of the foundation,?suspects a sexual motive behind the abuse.
Provide tips
The foundation urges people to report tips. Any information about the mistreatment of these animals helps. This information will then be passed on to the police, but the foundation wants to get a better view of the behavior of the perpetrators themselves. Ten Napel hopes the reward will help track down the ones who did this: “Maybe now people will start talking, that normally wouldn’t.”
Another case from the flemish neighbors led to an internet witch hunt and unfounded accusations of Peter de Clercq :
Below an example of teenagers that put a picture of how they wanted to put a kitten in the microwave on?social media:
The man who dumped his dog in a bag in the Maas-Waal channel at Nijmegen and left him there to drown, quickly had to go into hiding when his name had become known. Using social media, the violent reaction of the audience was directly linked to the outrage over the atrocity?of his act.
Also the “Pony Smasher” was quickly trending on social media, where everyone could see a large woman riding a Shetland pony. The animal literally falls to his hooves. The woman remains seated and lights a cigarette. This footage then led to an online manhunt. According to the police messages quickly?swarmed the net?with names, addresses and telephone numbers. A man who had nothing to do with the case, was threatened. The family of the suspect had go into hiding. Police say that apprehended three woman and two men, partly based on information produced on social media.
Police in a place called Horst found out a goat was brutally slain in the Castle forest because an officer found out about it using Twitter. The incident caused an immediate flood of response. Ranging from sad people to savage people who might actually look for the perpetrator and then arrest them. Incidents such as these are now very different from small reports in just the local village newspaper.