Do We Really Need All the Photos?

The other day I unfriended an acquaintance on Facebook. Reason I unfriended them was because the last 2 months they only thing they shared were photos of abused animals. It wasn't just abuse, it was maimed animals. I made a post on Facebook that I had did so and the slew of comments were that either people hide those things from their newsfeed or they unfriend the person. I had one person tell me that if I didn't have a plan to stop this type of abuse then I shouldn't be saying negative things about the photo. I should be turning a negative photo into a positive thing. Otherwise, I got dissed on my own post. 

(Warning: If you don't like nasty things, stop reading NOW) Thank you for reading this far and I hope you come back to read more of my blog and see my photos of me and my family. I try to keep it upbeat here but there are times when I need to get things off my chest. This is one of those times.....


A few days ago, Ma went out to the truck to get something and when she opened the door the smell knocked her back. It smelled like something dead was in the truck. We were having lightning storms as as the bolts went across the sky and the rain poured down, she grabbed what it was she needed and ran back in the house. For 2 days we had terrible storms and Ma just forgot about the truck. Yesterday, she went to put the thing back in the truck and when she opened the door , the smell knocked her back. She got her composure and looked around the truck to see if maybe a cat or a mouse had gotten in there and died. She was prepared for what she thought was the worse. She thought..

As she was moving stuff around, she came across a bag laying in the seat and when she picked it up she gagged. She gagged and gagged. She freaked out then momentarily blacked out due to hyperventilation. She found the source of the smell. The smell isn't what caused her panic. It was what was surrounding the source of the smell. She had left a container of raw chickyum livers in the truck. With temps in the mid to high 80's and the truck sitting in full sun all day, those chickyum livers exploded and flies somehow got in the truck. You do know what flies leave? The back seat was covered in fly babies. Lots and lots of fly babies. There is one thing my ma can not handle. This is a tough woman who I have seen touch a lot of nasty stuff but there is one thing that will bring her to doing the ninja dance, scream and practically makes her throw up and that is fly babies. Even the word can cause her to gag and shiver. 
She had to get those fly babies out of there and let the truck air out. I have never heard so much gagging and seen ma walking around with her arms flapping in the air, shuddering, stomping up and down, practically running in place with her arms flapping to the point I thought she was going to take off like a bird so much in my entire life. I thought we were going bye bye and jumped in the front seat of the truck but then the smell caught me and I jumped back out. I didn't even want to sit in the truck. Yes, it was that bad. 

Long story short, she shampooed the inside of the truck. Inside the truck looks brand new, we just wished it smelled that way. Even the skunk smell remover didn't work ,we are probably going to replace the seat. 

Back to my point..... How many of you read books with no pictures?? How many of you just read about our truck and seen it in your head without me showing you a photo or using the word of what we found? 

I bet many of you did. Then why do we need to see that photos of the maimed animals? Is it to add it to the shock value? Is it so the photo will catch your attention more? Why do we need to see the photos? Some say that its so people SEE what is going on in this world others say because a photo can say a thousand words. When the internet became available to everyone it became the world of photos. I love to look at photos of sunsets, friends fur babies, places I have never been in the world of travel ,family and friends. I love taking photos and having my photo taken but I don't feel I need to see every single photo of a pet that has been maimed. 

Recently, here in Ky and close to me there have been terrible maiming of dogs. One collie named Lad was found in our county on a country road with his bottom jaw shot almost off. The dog survived thanks to our county shelter contacting a group who saves severely abused pets but is now in California getting treatment. Two dogs have been found that are two counties away from me that have had their necks severed. Dogs are still alive and are getting treatment as I type. One dog's injuries were done with a chainsaw and the other I THINK it was due to a rope but I am not sure exactly. Each dog was found separately and days apart. 

This makes me wonder if these could be cases of copy cats. No not actual cats doing the harm. Remember the pitbull named Patrick? The dog who was starved almost to death then thrown down the laundry shoot to lay there and die? I remember seeing photos of Patrick when it first happened. He was nothing but a walking skeleton. That dog survived and is living a great life today. His photos were everywhere! You couldn't open your news feed or get on twitter without seeing his photo. He was in the national news, in the papers, he was everywhere. Then it seems a few months later more and more dogs were found starved to the point of being walking skeletons. As the years passed more dogs were found. Some dogs died due to being found too late, some lived. 

When we share things with our friends or followers, we know they are a great group of people. Animal lovers share posts about animals needing a home, shelters share in hopes of finding their animals homes or fosters, they also share in hopes that people will donate to their cause but do we know who are friends or followers share it with? Do we know who their followers share it with? A photo that has been shared over 3,000 times has been shared with a lot of people but do we know all those people have a animals best interest in heart? No, we don't. Face it, there are some sick people in this world. Some that don't care for a animals life or well being. Are there people out there that possibly see a photo and decide they want to do the same thing to one? Probably. 

The other day in the news there were 2 twelve year old girls who stabbed their friend repeatedly. This was a premeditated murder plot. The 2 girls had a fascination in gore type movies. The police chef stated "  Waukesha, Wis., police chief says stabbing of girl should be 'wake-up call' to parents about the Internet" " "Two 12-year-old girls inspired by Internet horror stories are accused of luring a girl of the same age into a wooded area near Milwaukee before stabbing the victim 19 times and leaving her to crawl to her own rescue over the weekend."  The girls were "inspired" by the internet horror stories. We are talking 12 yr olds here! The point I am trying to make is if photos or stories can inspire a child to do terrible things then the gory photos of animals can do the same. 

I am not against sharing photos of animals in need of help but I will not allow the photos to be on my news feed with ONLY the words "OMG" or "How could someone do this" and things to that matter. If you are going to post the photos you need to be asking if anyone has any information about who could have possibly done that or warn others to keep a eye on their pets because someone with not the best intentions is doing horrible things to animals. Ask your followers to please donate to the shelter or vets office who has the animal for their bills they are accumulating. 

Sometimes just letting people know what you seen in that post is going on without showing the photo. Yes photos can be more of a impact to the brain but they can also give others ideas. Plus, we don't ALL need to see it. Those who work in vet's offices, shelters, rescues or even volunteer in these places have seen what goes on. We have seen what hasn't been shown to the public and sometimes those things are worse than anything you will see online. 

Have you ever noticed that a lot of vets or rescues will post about a stray who has been hit by a car but that photo is of the animal AFTER it has been taken care of medically? You will see the photo of the pet with a cast or bandages on and not what it came in looking like. Those are the post I don't mind. I don't need to see the dog whose neck has been severed bone and muscle but I do not mind the photo afterwards of the same dog with his bandages on. 

No I am not one who gets sick at the site of blood or body parts that have been maimed. I have seen it in real life. We have the photos that were taken of ma's thigh after she was bitten by a dog. Those photos were taken for documentation along with the photos during the healing process but they will NEVER be posted online for others to see. You may see a photo of the scar the dog left on her thigh but a scar is nothing to what it was when it was first done. 

Know that if you are sharing the gore photos there are many who have hid you from their news feed. Now when you share other things such as animals needing a home or a rescue needing funds to save a life, you are no longer being seen. 

Can photos cause others to do the same? 

So do we always need to see the photos??? Do you hide those photos from your news feed or do you also share them? What are your thoughts about the gory photos?