Group questions fake nature photography

[Catherine]

Quote:Now -this is off at a tangent a little bit and probably should be a new thread....but what is even more worrying than this, are the "cute funny dogs and cats" videos. As they stand they are great fun. But sometimes there are very dark secrets behind what these animals do. Not all, by any means. Many are genuine candid videos. But some are not....and conceal a regime of cruelty and pain for the animal.

It is not totally off topic. It is another example of exploiting animals to gain internet attention. It rates up there with some of the dangerous selfies that have resulted in animal deaths.

I wonder if anyone has done research on the subject. I am sure the early videos were spontaneous. The newer stuff is questionable. People probably work for hours to get the right video.  

The darker side would be acts of animal cruelty done to produce a "viral" video. Do you have any idea how often it happens. I am sure it does happen. People are willing to do anything for attention.