FACT CHECK: Are People Adopting Pit Bull Terriers for the Sole Purpose of Euthanizing Them?

The #PitbullDropOff hashtag and related claims of mass dog killing stem from a sophomoric troll attempt with origins in 4chan.

CLAIM: People are adopting pit bulls with the express goal of euthanizing them, and then bragging about it on the Internet with the hashtag #PitbullDropOff.

RATING:

ORIGIN: In mid-May 2018, the hashtag #PitbullDropOff began to gain traction on social media. A typical post involves a picture of cute pit bull terrier-type puppies, and a message that the person who took the picture adopted them for the express purpose of euthanizing them to get them off the streets. This post from “muffs-o-matic” is representative of most:

These posts are fabricated; they are part of a juvenile attempt to provoke anger and outrage on the internet, and are specifically directed at “naive pitmommies and various other low IQ individuals.” They have their origins not in reality, but in the callow minds of the festering racist, misogynistic, and nihilistic world that is 4chan — an anonymous message board that unites trolls, “incels,” and neo-Nazis together in their shared contempt for human decency.

A 13 May 2018 anonymous post found in that website’s most infamous board (/pol/) presents an update on their campaign, and also how you — assuming, of course, that you are a troll — can get involved in the game:

Indeed, as many have pointed out on Reddit, most of the photos shared on Twitter and Facebook with the #PitBullDropOff hashtag include images that can easily be found on reverse image search as having nothing to do with #PitbullDropOff, and which predate the hashtag by years. The image that appears in the post by “muffs-o-matic,” for example, can be found in a February 2017 list of cute puppies on The Chive.

This tweet, from a burner account clearly created solely for the #PitbullDropOff troll, contains a picture of a sad dog that is at least as old as December 2011:

Outside the smug satisfaction of feeling smarter than the people they have trolled, the underlying motivations for the hashtag fall clearly into the political ideology of the /pol/ message board, which has coagulated over time into a simple philosophy: Women, liberals, and minorities are destroying America. Here’s a sampling of some of the comments in the thread:

The anonymous trolls also suggest that pit bull-type dogs are almost always owned by ethnic minorities, and are thus aggressive and unfriendly — a racial stereotype that has long motivated anti-pit bull movements:

While we cannot speak to the broader claim that some terrible human beings have adopted dogs for the purpose of putting them down, we can say with confidence that the current viral #PitbullDropOff trend on social media is a hoax orchestrated by anonymous hoaxsters using unrelated photographs, fake context, and a characteristic reliance on racism and misogyny. Don’t feed the trolls.

[ Source: snopes.com ]

I am trying to get this information spread around Tumblr because so many people are still losing their shit over all this. Please help by reblogging.

Yeah I saw those pitbull posts and refused to reblog them. Glad I didn’t. The internet is the fuckin wild wild west

The sad part is we live in a time where its entirely possible for that to be a thing.

That said, I have to remind myself to check sources more often.

Whoops. Apologies

whoops + apologies = whologies.

Beep-boop. Portmanteau^bot^1 Y̸҉̙͚̫̮̠̮̜̟̜̹̙͖͎͚̰̩͔ͅͅǫ̬͈̪̟͓͍̠̣͙̙̳͟u̸̸̧̗̬̹͡ w̧̧̼̤̙̹̯̜̫̙͔̩̳͍̫̤͔͘o̸̸̡̯̹̞̦̪̣͈͖̩̩̱̕n̵͏̴̵̘̲̯̥͙̭̬͡'̵̹͔̮̟̗̹̻́͞ṱ̷̢̢̙͉̮͕͈̪̪͈̫̻̀ t̡̠̱̤̮̬͍͚͉͚̝́͝͠à̲̭͙͜͝g̵̡̡̺͕̮͙͙̀̀ ù͈̱̫̟̦̘͜͜͠ş̱͎͖̱̗̺̠̘̻͍́͞ ẁ̧̫̫̣̫̝̪̙͇̱͎̫̜̩͇̜i̫̭͈̗̦͜t̴̸̢̤̦͚̜͉̳̬͔̪̦̰͓̝͎̬͞h̸̢̡̝͖̫̘̜͔̖̼͙̘͎͚̦͓̜̩̭̜ à͙̠̟̟̬̙̞͓͖b̶̺̟̹̘̩̭͈̮͔͉̤̱̜́͢͞ͅͅa̮̺̦̯̼̥̯̹͈͓̝̳̠̮̻̼͡ͅs̸̢͠͡҉̻̖̙̜̰̹͓̦ͅi̤̦̫͙̫͇̳̠͓̼͈̙͜͠n̸̨̘͈̘̗g̱̠̤̱͙͖͜͞ f̨́҉̱̥̼̯͈̗̞̭̰͔͙̭̲͓̙̝o̢̡͏̖͈͉̤̬ǫ̫̩͓͚͚̼̺̗̮̀t҉̩͎͕̖̜͇̩̟͇̥͚͟e̴̪͓͈͉̜͚̹̩r̷̢̳̻̦̜͈̺̯̺͉̞̳̹̗͈͖͜ͅs̵̢͎̮̱͈̦̺͚̖͎̳̺̯͜͡ á̛͏̵̬̬̘̤͟n͈͈̤͎͇͚̤͔͈̰͍̠̱̼͘͠y̢͏͔̙̺͉̼͚͖͠m͏̧͕̝̫̖̯̯̳̗͙̝̳̖͓̦̪̲͖͉ͅo̵̡̤̻̠͙͖̪͙̭̦̱̞̳͇̤͜͞r̷̵̢̰͈̠̜̮̤̳̳̪̦̜͎e͏͢͞͏̪̲̫ͅ | PayPal | Patreon

I think I reblogged a post that believed that they actually were doing that…

So, here is an important update.

REBLOG THIS!

I’m calling John Wick.

Scammer Targeting Tumblr Artists

The title says it all really. So if nothing else, please share and reblog this post to raise awareness for those that might be caught out - both artists and followers. For a TL:DR, please look at the bottom of the post

What is happening?

Right now, there is at least one person actively impersonating multiple artists across tumblr in an effort to scam their followers into paying for fake ‘cheap commissions’. The scammer will clone a tumblr, usually using a slight change to the url/account name to look like the real deal. They will then message people directly through Tumblr with messages along the lines of “Hey, i’m doing cheap commissions right now. DM me to get one”. Naturally, this is ends up just being a way to take their money without giving anything back in return.

Who does this affect?

Everyone. Simple as that. As long as the scammer in question works unopposed, they are free to spread their influence and continue to scam more people. Even if you haven’t been targeted yet, it does not mean you are safe or immune. Several artists have already fallen victim to this scammer, and I encourage any artists that have to reblog this post with the details of their affected account(s) and the ones the scammer has set up.

How can we stop this?

Tumblr, like many other social media platforms, seems to care very little about ‘minor’ occurences like this one, and despite reaching out directly to them over a week ago through multiple avenues of contact - they have refused to comment on the situation, provide a recommended response for users, or take action on behalf of those already affected. Despite this, there are still tools at our disposal that we can use to make this scam more difficult, and to increase its visibility to those within Tumblr staff that are required by policy to take action. Tumblr has the following to say on the topic of impersonation: Confusion or Impersonation. Don’t do things that would cause confusion between you or your blog and a person or company, like registering a deliberately confusing URL. Don’t impersonate anyone. While you’re free to ridicule, parody, or marvel at the alien beauty of Benedict Cumberbatch, you can’t pretend to actually be Benedict Cumberbatch. They then provide a link to this online form that you can fill out if you suspect someone’s identity is being confused. Unfortunately, this can only be filled out if you are the victim of impersonation. In other words, only the artists can fill this out legitimately. So, what about the followers and users of tumblr whom aren’t being impersonated? Our most valuable tool in this online platform is the platform itself. It enables us to spread our word near-virally across all the many sub-communities on Tumblr with remarkable efficiency for a user-driven system. We can take advantage of that effect to increase awareness of the situation. Even if you - the one reading this right now - aren’t an artist or don’t know an artist, the act of reblogging this post or sharing it directly with friends improves it’s ‘ranking’ in popularity increasing its chances to be seen by more people. We don’t need everyone on Tumblr to see the post for it to be effective, just like we don’t need the entirety of the human population of the world to be immune to a disease for that disease to be rendered ineffective or eradicated. If enough people are aware, the likelihood of pulling off a successful scam increases dramatically reducing efficiency to a point that it no longer becomes profitable to continue.

Why should I care?

It disheartens me to say this, but of the many artists I contacted directly over the past week to warn about this issue many of them refused to listen or dodged the responsibility with lines like;

This is honestly disappointing that so many artists or art-rebloggers care so little as to intentionally wave the responsibility of keeping their followers and fellow artists safe from this, that they cannot spare 10 seconds of their time to share an informative post. I’m not here to bash artists, but it is time that everyone takes responsibility for their own communities, and of those around them. Artists: You have a responsibility to ensure that your followers and fans aren’t being abused by someone who may impersonate you. If they succeed, your reputation will be damaged, and your followers will resent you. Your followers are also almost guaranteed to be following other artists meaning your efforts can spread beyond your own circle of influence, so don’t be naive when you think you have little effect. Followers: You have just as much responsibility to be aware of those that might try to scam you or your fellow followers. Don’t just sit in silence when you see something wrong: Ignoring the issue only makes it more resilient to our efforts to stop it. You are the vocal majority if you just use your voices to be heard!

TL:DR

A scammer is impersonating artists and scamming money from their followers under the guise of ‘cheap commissions’. If we ignore the issue, it will get worse. Every single person that reads this can afford to spend just 10 seconds to reblog and share this post. Those 10 seconds can save others from being scammed for hundreds of dollars. Reblog & Share