Real or fake? Online Animal Cruelty. International Animal Rescue shares useful guide for SMACC ‘Report It’ week

Monday 21 September, 2026 ‘Report It! Week’ from 21st to 27th September is a collective campaign to help people recognise and report animal cruelty online. Online animal cruelty rarely looks like cruelty at first glance. It is often dressed up as comedy, cuteness, or rescue, designed to earn views, shares, and money. Led by the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) to raise awareness of online animal cruelty and encourage people to respond responsibly when they encounter harmful animal content online. This year's theme reminds every viewer that the choices we make online have real consequences for real animals. REPORT IT! WEEK 2026 runs from September 21 - 27, 2026, where SMACC are asking people to #ReportIt2EndIt and invites the global community to pause before reacting, question what's behind the content, and take the one action that actually helps: reporting it through the proper channels. BE AWAREDON’T ENGAGEREPORT IT! SMACC advises that viewers look for indicators of fake rescue and to report such content directly to the platforms. Do not watch, engage or share the content. But the first step is how to recognise such content? International Animal Rescue has developed a