From The CC Vault: Social Media – The Best and Worst of our Worlds

by Debra Vey Voda-Hamilton, Esq. Mediator
www.hamiltonlawandmediation.com

Originally published: November 2014

Nothing has captured the attention of the dog show world quite as effectively as social media…

It is an invaluable tool for keeping in touch with fellow breeders and owners/handlers who have our dogs. The quick and easy exchange of information on ring timing, assistance, emergency coverage and engaging immediate help for a dog or person who goes down, is invaluable. Many a life has been saved due to the quick actions taken via a post or directions obtained off Google+! Social media also supports, for better or worse, the dissemination of misinformation. Difficult and unkind discussions, intentional or unintentional, are often publicly broadcast via chat rooms, breed groups, judges lists, and a myriad of other social media dog sites. These sites can carry this misinformation globally in a matter of seconds. Several dog show exhibitors have been victims of general social media gossip or worse.

However, these damaging experiences are minuscule when compared to the global impact social media has given animal welfare groups. Their ability to garner mass action, on behalf of animals, is extraordinary. Do you ever really know who reads your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram posts? Please do not assume animal welfare advocates are not reading your posts, even if they are private. Nothing is private anymore, just ask Jennifer Lawrence.

Animal welfare advocates now use social media to find issues they can rally around. They take on a matter that concerns them, no matter how innocent the actions may have been, and incite flash mobs of support. A great example of this use of social media took place last winter. As the northeast braced for a prolonged period known as the polar vortex, animal welfare advocates heated up the social media airwaves and used the internet to gather support for a cause.

In upstate New York, a man who raised herding dogs had his dogs seized. His dogs were outside, tethered to blue plastic barrels with no insulation. In prior years, complaints by his neighbors about the dogs’ situation were met by law enforcement visits, conversations with the man, and observations that his care of the dogs met the minimum standard of care under the law. Law enforcement assured everyone the dog’s care met all state and county laws. Which it probably did.

Enter the polar vortex, social media and impassioned animal welfare advocates. Taken together, they created the perfect storm. Animal welfare proponents came on his property and seized his dogs. This was done without any legal finding that he had violated a law or ordinance. All the actions took place in the name of animal welfare. He thought they were coming to help him and his dogs. Instead they stepped in and condemned his way of life.

This kind of social media blitz, which underpins the taking, rescue and rehabilitation of animals, is what I call the animal welfare steamroller. Their definition of animal welfare is the only definition that counts. To animal welfare advocates, having dogs in kennels, tethered to blue barrels, staked in front of dog houses, or in crates in a van is tantamount to improper or inhumane treatment of animals. I am not condemning or approving of the care of the dogs in New York. I would have rather of had a conversation with the man and helped him shift his paradigm going forward, not just take his dogs. This story is meant to illustrate the power of social media for rallying supporters for a cause.

NYS law enforcement was powerless to stop this steamroller. They were bullied into acting, though technically no law was violated. The local district attorney questioned the legality of the taking of these dogs and was blasted by animal welfare supporters for his inhumane position. Animal Welfare proponents ran roughshod over one person’s rights. They felt justified because of the deafening call for humane treatment of these animals by the tens of thousands of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram followers they had rallied. It was the epitome of an animal welfare social media flash mob.

As breeders, owners and handlers of purebred dogs, it is not a gigantic leap to visualize this happening to us. We keep and travel with multiple dogs who are housed in cages a good deal of the time. This is not an ideal life for a dog as envisioned by animal welfare experts. Animal welfare proponents do not live in our homes or understand the care we give our show dogs. What they do know is that we breed purebred dogs for offspring to show. Two of our most common actions alone, crating and breeding, may bring the wrath of an animal rights flash mob down upon us. To them, what we do proliferates the plight of shelter dogs. In their opinion, we should spay/neuter our dogs and adopt from shelters.

This article is meant to alert the dog show world to use care when posting something about someone on social media. It may come back to harm you, someone else, or the sport you love in ways you never intended. Making statements to be funny, with no foundation in fact, may set off an animal welfare steamroller. You never know who is reading your post, who they forward it to, how those people might react, or the actions they may take as a result of what you said. Take your time and think before you post. Choose face to face communication, if possible, when disagreements arise. It could save you and others from a possible flash mob response to your post.
Social media and the dog show world, the best and worst of worlds.

Embrace it for all the wonderful information it can provide which enables us to show easily and safely. Use it with care, respecting its depth and breadth of holding us responsible for what we post.

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