The TikTok Trend That Broke Me
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You know me – I usually write about solo adventures, kayaking with seals, or paragliding off cliffs that make your mom nervous. But today, we’re taking a detour. No boarding passes, no hotel hacks. Just something I saw on TikTok that made me sick – and why I decided to speak up.
Because even when you’re traveling solo, your voice can still echo far and wide.
A Trend That Shouldn’t Exist
It started with a scroll. You know the kind – you’re tired, just looking for a cat doing something weird or someone turning their van into a cozy studio apartment. Instead, I stumbled upon a trend where people slap their dogs in rhythm with a song and call it “entertainment.” Yep. Slap. A dog. For likes.
Some people even comment things like “LOL” or “funny how the dog tries to run away.”
No, Karen. That’s not funny. That’s an animal trying to escape abuse.
The final straw for me? I saw two guys – one holding a tiny puppy so it couldn’t move, the other slapping it repeatedly while laughing. The video had thousands of likes. Thousands.
That was it. I snapped. And not in the haha relatable meltdown kind of way. I declared war on TikTok. (Well, algorithmic war. No swords. Yet.)
My Mom Joined the Fight (Because, of Course She Did)
I told my mom about what I saw. She’s kind, empathetic, and doesn’t even kill spiders. Her exact words? “We need to do something.” So now it’s a family operation. We’re reporting every single abusive video we come across. It’s like a digital undercover mission. My mom’s taking it as seriously as if she were the FBI.
What This Has to Do With Travel
You might be wondering – what does this have to do with travel?
Solo travel is about courage. It’s about trusting your instincts in a new country, navigating the unknown, and learning to speak up for yourself.
But sometimes courage looks different.
Sometimes, it’s not jumping out of a plane.
Sometimes, it’s calling out cruelty.
Even from your couch.
This moment reminded me: it’s not just about where you go. It’s also about who you are while you’re there – and what you choose to stand for.
Use Your Voice (Even If It Shakes)
My dad used to say the most important thing in life is to be a good person with character. And that’s stuck with me. I don’t care if it makes me look “too sensitive” or dramatic. I’d rather be that person than someone who scrolls past injustice and does nothing.
Because animals can’t hit “report.”
They can’t say “stop.”
They can’t ask for help.
But we can.
What You Can Do
If you ever see one of these videos on TikTok, here’s how you can report it:
- Tap the arrow icon on the right side of the video.
- Select “Report”.
- Choose “Animal abuse” as the reason.
- Done. You’ve officially made the internet 0.001% better.
TikTok’s community guidelines do ban animal cruelty – but unless enough people report it, those videos often stay up or even go viral.
So if you see something, don’t scroll past it. Report it. Share your voice. Because the algorithm listens to volume – so let’s give it something to hear.
Final Thoughts
I didn’t plan to write this post. It’s off-brand, unfiltered, and honestly a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. But it felt too important to keep to myself.
So here it is: raw, real, and from the heart.
Because sometimes the most important journey isn’t to a new country – it’s the one where you stand up, speak out, and stay kind. Even when it’s hard.
If you care about this too, I also wrote a letter to the travel industry asking them to stop turning a blind eye and start doing better when it comes to animals and tourism.
Thanks for reading, and if you see anything like this on your feed – please report it. The voiceless need us.
PS: I promise the next post will involve a kayak, a sunrise, or something slightly less rage-inducing.
