Target: Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube (Google), and Google Trust & Safety, Mountain View, California
Goal: Require strict, published animal-welfare standards, accredited partners, and veterinary oversight for all wildlife “rescue/relocation” videos—and remove or demonetize content that risks animal distress, injury, or exploitation.
An influencer “rescuing” wildlife with dramatic relocations can look inspiring, but experts have repeatedly warned that on-camera interventions may cause severe stress, heat exhaustion, capture myopathy, injury during restraint or transport, and post-release fatalities—especially if done without proper permits, veterinary leadership, and accredited sanctuary partners. Viral incentives can also fuel staged harm, unnecessary handling, and the removal of animals from the wild for content. Platforms profit from this attention; animals pay the price when standards are unclear or unenforced.
Responsible teams use anesthetic protocols, telemetry, quarantine, species-specific handling, and legal documentation. They coordinate with licensed veterinarians, wildlife authorities, and accredited sanctuaries, and they disclose methods so viewers can tell the difference between humane practice and performative drama. Without platform rules that mandate these safeguards, viewers cannot distinguish evidence-based care from content that puts animals at risk or normalizes harassment and captivity for clicks.
YouTube can protect animals and audiences by setting baseline, enforceable requirements: proof of permits and veterinary leadership; partnerships limited to accredited facilities; bans on staged “rescues,” chase footage, and hazardous handling; and clear disclosures about rehabilitation and release outcomes. Humane content should be promoted; risky content should be removed or demonetized. Demand Google adopt—and enforce—comprehensive wildlife-welfare standards now.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mr. Mohan and the Google Trust & Safety Team,
Wildlife “rescue/relocation” videos are surging across your platform, yet many feature stressful restraint, questionable transport, or staged scenarios that can harm animals and mislead viewers. Animals subjected to improper capture, handling, or relocation may suffer acute distress, capture myopathy, injuries, and preventable deaths. Viral incentives can also encourage removing animals from their habitats or manufacturing crises for views.
We respectfully urge YouTube to implement and enforce robust animal-welfare safeguards for any wildlife rescue, relocation, or rehabilitation content by requiring documented veterinary oversight, legal permits, and collaboration with accredited rehabilitation centers or sanctuaries—clearly displaying these credentials in the video description; prohibiting and demonetizing/removing content that reportedly involves staged harm, baiting, harassment, reckless pursuit, dangerous restraint, or export for entertainment; mandating species-appropriate handling standards, quarantine and release protocols where applicable, and plain-language disclosures explaining what viewers are seeing and why it is humane; creating a dedicated reporting pathway and expert review panel to rapidly triage alleged violations, with an annual transparency report summarizing actions taken; and elevating humane, evidence-based content in recommendations while adding donation tools for verified, accredited partners conducting ethical fieldwork.
These steps will protect animals, educate the public with science-grounded practices, and reward creators who do things the right way.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: robbihoy
