Contact the Animal Rescue Team

Do you currently work as a law enforcement officer, animal control officer or humane officer and need assistance with an animal cruelty case? Request Assistance Here

Do you have concerns for an animal cruelty situation involving, but not limited to, animal fighting, large-scale neglect (hoarding), puppy mills, livestock abuse or any other concerns? Please submit your information below. We recommend reaching out to your local authorities first and filing a report—the HSUS is not an enforcement authority, so we would not be able to physically come out and investigate the situation.

Your information

First name

Last name

Email address

Phone number

Can your contact information be shared with local authorities so they may reach out to you for more information if needed?

Yes

Address of concern

Street address

City/town

State/province

ZIP/postal Code

Type of concern

What is the exact address where the animals are located and/or description of the area?

What is the name of the owner(s), if known?

Do you know who lives on the property with the animals(s)?

Is this first hand information?

What species of animals are located on the property?

Approximately how many animals are located on the property?

Which animal(s) may be the victims of abuse?

Who is the perpetrator, if known?

Where exactly on the property are the animals located?

Are there any deceased animals on the property?

Could you describe the physical conditions of the animal(s)?

How are the animals confined, e.g. crate, chain, etc., if at all?

Please describe the physical conditions of the animal(s).

Are any of the animals injured? If so, please describe the injuries.

Do the animals have constant access to clean water, regular food and adequate shelter?

Have you spoken with the owner before? If so, how would you describe your interactions?

What is the name and address of alleged cockfighter?

Is there any visible signage at this location alluding to possible cockfighting?

How do you know the alleged cockfighter?

How do you know they are fighting/raising birds for fighting? Is this firsthand information?

If you saw the birds, how were the birds housed (coops, pens, tethered near A-frame huts or barrels)?

Are any of the birds injured or do they show any signs of sickness?

Approximately how many birds does the alleged owner have at the property?

Are the birds kept at a different address/location than above?

Are there a lot of people coming and going from the property?

Do they spar/fight the birds on the property? If not, do you know where the fights take place?

Does the alleged cockfighter advertise/sell fighting cocks? If yes, can you please provide more details?

Have you reported any of this information to the authorities in the past?

What is the name and address of alleged dogfighter?

Is there a separate business name, kennel name or facility name that is advertised at this property?

How do you know they are fighting dogs? Is this firsthand information? Please be specific.

Did you see the dogs? If so, did the dogs have any scars from past injuries or fresh/current injuries?

How were the dogs confined to the property?

Do the dogs have shelter? If so, is the shelter adequate?

How many dogs does the alleged dogfighter own and/or keep at the property?

Where are the dogs and/or the training equipment housed?

Do they fight the dogs on the property? If not, do you know where the fights take place?

How do they advertise their dogs for sale?

If you have any other complaints you would like to submit, please submit as much information as possible in your report.

Thank you for reaching out with your concerns of online abuse. These displays of violence can be terribly disturbing. We sincerely thank you for your concern and for your interest in getting this content removed. The internet has become saturated with video-sharing websites, many of which have become venues for users to upload images of animal cruelty.

Unfortunately, it is exceedingly difficult to obtain animal cruelty prosecutions in cases where alleged animal abuse is posted online, because of the difficulty in identifying the date and location of the abuse, as well as the identity of the abuser. This is further complicated when it is impossible to determine the original source and how many times the videos have been shared.

The best practice is to report disturbing content on the platforms they are posted on, like YouTube, Facebook, GoFundMe, etc. Reporting the video to the platform helps to get videos removed. It may take some time, but we recommend continuing to report videos that you feel should be removed.

Most often, the best we can hope for is for the website’s ISP (internet service provider) to remove the offensive images or video content in order to hopefully prevent the proliferation of copycat videos. Some ISPs, such as Google, have Terms of Service agreements that prohibit offensive material.

To report internet animal cruelty, you have several options:

Contact the AFA and report the site.
Report through Facebook’s policy on offensive content:

Facebook maintains a robust reporting infrastructure that leverages our hundreds of millions of users to look for offensive or potentially dangerous content. This reporting infrastructure includes links on pages across the Facebook site, systems to prioritize the most serious reports, and a team of professional reviewers who respond to reports and escalate them to law enforcement as needed. We encourage our users to report any offensive or inappropriate content by clicking on the "Report" links located on pages throughout the site.

Read about YouTube’s abuse policies and report offensive images on YouTube by clicking the “flag video” link.
If the offensive website involves selling, trading or offering of goods/services, contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Select "money" when asked what the incident you are reporting involves. IIC3 will evaluate your report and refer it to the appropriate federal, state, local or international law enforcement or regulatory agencies
Write to the ISPs that you visit regularly and encourage them to regulate their websites for animal cruelty. For example, many of our members have written (and continue to write) to YouTube, urging them to monitor for animal cruelty videos and reiterating that the only purpose of such videos is shock value, which the majority of their viewers finds outrageously offensive.

In 2009, the HSUS was on the frontlines fighting for a federal law that would put a stop to the proliferation of animal abuse videos. In December 2010, President Obama signed into law H.R. 5566, the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010, which addressed the creation and circulation of these videos. There were several loopholes with this Act, so Congress later passed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (PACT Act) of 2019. The PACT Act covers the abuse seen within the crush videos, but not addressed directly in the Act, as well as including malicious acts of animal cruelty in the language of the Act. We do the best we can to flag these videos and have them removed from the public domain and we thank you for your willingness to help. Please be sure to let us know if there is anything else we can do to help you.

If you know where the possible abuse is physically taking place or have more detailed information for follow-up, please submit this form with as much detailed information as possible, including links to the video/photos/etc.

Do you have any photos, videos or documentation that you would like to submit for review?

Yes

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Have you contacted local law enforcement and/or animal control?

Any other details you would like to add?