A ‘huge number’ of Irish social media accounts are sharing animal cruelty videos on TikTok and Snapchat, a new investigation has found.

The Journal Investigates has found that children are being exposed to videos glamourising badger baiting, fox mauling, hare coursing and the catapult killing of birds.

The attacks on wild animals are being filmed and posted to social media across many parts of the country.

The investigation found dozens of the videos on TikTok, with the animal cruelty filmed in Ireland and edited to include popular memes, music and sounds.

The videos are posted anonymously but include pro-hunting hashtags and wildlife emojis – with some of the clips shared and liked hundreds of times.

"Very concerning"

The Journal reporter Patricia Devlin told Newstalk that there are real fears the trend could lead to a further increase in cruelty to Irish wildlife.

“It's very concerning because we're seeing a lot of younger people being involved in this,” she said.

“For example, TikTok, who say they're very proactive in getting this type of content taken down, that type of platform is used by a high number of young people.

“So, we've seen videos where, for example, catapults are being used by young people to kill birds, which in Ireland are protected.”

Main image shows a badger emerging from his set in County Carlow, 09-05-2010. Image: Padraig Kavanagh / Alamy

She said the investigation found “a huge number of Irish accounts across all of those platforms that are being used to promote and glamorise that type of content”.

One series of videos highlighted by the investigation shows a man designing, making and fitting sinister devices used in badger baiting to a dog’s mouth.

Other Irish videos show young people involved in “catting”, a slang term for using a catapult to kill birds and other small animals.

Some of the images are cross posted across social media platforms, with an image of a teenager holding a bloodied and dead badger cub by its tail first posted to Snapchat before being shared to a private Facebook group for hunters in the midlands.

Another Facebook post shared dozens of pictures of dogs mauling animals - including protected badgers and hares – with the image that garnered the most ‘likes’ then deemed the winner.

Animal cruelty

The ISPCA is warning that despite the large amount of digital evidence available, authorities are unable to take meaningful action due to a lack of resources.

The charity is calling for investigation into online animal cruelty to be made a priority of properly funded.

The investigation also found evidence of wildlife being captured and sold for illegal hunting on Snapchat – with badgers, hares and rabbits snared and sold as live bait through illegal hunting networks in Ireland.

Earlier this year, Sinn Féin called for more prosecutions and penalties for wildlife crime to demonstrate it is “not tolerated” in Ireland.

TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook have been contacted for comment.