Watch the video: New TikTok challenge – people throw their cats through the air for clicks.
Video source: rtl.de
Sweet, fluffy and this baby kitten also seems to fly. It’s not alone: This challenge is currently going viral on the internet. What looks cute in some cases sounds like this in other cases: You can hear: This cat is obviously scared. Veterinarians are horrified: Doc Polly: “Sometimes I can’t believe what goes on in people’s heads.” Even animal lovers on the street are shocked at what is done to helpless animals for a few more clicks… “Well, I find it creepy, I think it’s animal cruelty, just for TikTok.” “This cat’s face alone speaks volumes.” “It’s actually quite bad, I once had the impression that one of them was injured.” Could the whole thing come at the expense of the most successful singer of our time? Because Taylor Swift’s latest song “August” has to be where all the fun comes from. No matter if dog, cat or hedgehog. The so-called Swifties – the singer’s fans – use their animals for greater reach. Why cats of all things? Probably because THE Pop Queen is also known as the “Cat Queen”. The artist with the impeccable image also shows up again and again with her kittens, but of course with HER they do NOT fly through the air. It’s different with social media users, who are now using exactly THEIR song for the worrying trend. We show these videos to veterinarian Dr. Pollmüller. For YOU, this clearly borders on animal cruelty! She says: The whole thing can even be dangerous for animals. Polly: “If they don’t know what it’s like to be picked up, it can be scary. Then most animals are picked up under their armpits. Like us humans, we have a network of nerves under our armpits, the animals, and that’s very sensitive. And that’s actually unpleasant.” Some people even go further: In this video, the owner even seems to throw her cat away. Even though cats always land on their feet. But you don’t have to risk it either. Doc Polly “Of course anything is possible with a fall like that.” Some people don’t even seem to know the danger to their animal: they’re always used for supposedly funny or cute videos. For example, with the so-called “cucumber challenge”: In this trend, which has been coming up again and again for years, the owners put a cucumber in front of the cats – they think it’s a snake and jump into the air in fright. Animal psychologists know that what looks funny can even scare cats into death. But: at least a few animal lovers seem to understand the seriousness of the situation: “It probably won’t do the cats any good. And I don’t think anything that harms the animals is nice, I have a dog at home myself, I like animals. That’s why I am I’m not a fan of it.” These girls, who are supposed to take on such challenges, see it the same way. Using their animals for clicks – unimaginable for them: “My big cat, I’ve had it for a long time now, it just wouldn’t like it and it would just say, no, I’m going away from you, I don’t like you.” “You have to know for yourself. You can turn around and get dizzy. You have to come to yourself first until everything is straight again. You have to come to yourself and that’s how it is for them Cat even better.” Taylor Swift has not yet wanted to comment on the trend. But – as a big cat lover – she probably won’t like these challenges either. Because just watching it makes you dizzy.