Pet Product News - January 2016

By B.C. HeNsCHeN

While browsing Facebook recently I noticed a pic- ture of a pet business
storefront. The caption was
something along the lines of, “I
just visited this store and saw
the employee hitting a puppy
for escaping from its exercise
pen. I’ve called the authorities,
but they tell me there’s nothing
they can do. Please everyone
don’t shop here!”
My first reaction was anger. I
thought, “I hope this place is shut
down.” I started to look through
the comments and everyone was
outraged. There were comments
from people saying that they had
seen things like that in the past
and that’s why they would never
shop there. The post was quick-
ly shared among animal lovers.
Some of the comments were bor-
derline threatening. There were a
few comments from people try-
ing to stand up for the business
saying the owners would never
tolerate that and they would look
into it. Those comments were even
attacked, probably by people who
had never been in the store.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and the many other social me-
dia sites are wonderful. They
are great resources with which
to connect people to your busi-
ness. They also have changed the
world of pet rescue. Animal sto-
ries seem to go viral faster than
any other story. I am amazed at
how many animal-related posts
get attention and get shared. I
can post about the neighborhood
mechanic who butchered a brake
job on my vehicle, but it doesn’t
get shared across the Internet and
picked up by the local media.

Then there is Internet vigilantism that loves to deal with animal issues. In 2009, a 14-year- old posted videos on You Tube of him torturing a cat. The videos quickly were reported and removed, but not before people had copied them and distributed them across many forums, trying to find out who the kid was. Angry Internet users started tearing into the background that was shown in the video and the bogus usernames that he had used.

They quickly found a connection
to his Facebook account, which
had pictures on it that lined up
with the background in the vid-
eo. Within two days, the teen had
been arrested and the cat was
taken to a veterinarian for care.

Pretty cool! I love stories like that, but the “angry Internet”

tends to go for total destruction on cases such as this. Not only had people figured out who the teen was, but they also figured out what school he attended, who his parents were, his address and the name of his father’s business. The school was bombarded with calls wanting him expelled, and his dad’s website was attacked so much that his dad just had to shut the website down. With the thousands of review websites such as Yelp, the angry Internet was able to flood this guy’s business with bogus negative reviews and some very serious threats.

A friend of mine who owns a pet-related business recently discovered just what the Internet can do when people are enraged.

An employee who was terminat-
ed on not favorable terms decid-
ed to make allegations of animal
abuse. These allegations were
picked up by Facebook users,
the local media and many other
social sites. The more the story
spread, the more horrific it be-
came. The problem is that none
of the allegations were true; it
was just a disgruntled employee
making them up. But the dam-
age was done.

Sure, someone could sue the person who started the claims, but the damage to the person’s business would not be undone. The story of a successful lawsuit would not be carried across the Internet in nearly the same numbers.

I am a firm believer in the
good that comes with the Inter-
net. I have seen some changes
in the town I live in because of
forums that allow things that are
happening behind the scenes to
get out in the open. Regarding
our last local election, I firmly
believe that Internet chatter was
able to change the course of the
election. I just don’t know what
to do about the bad.

How do we guard ourselves against it? There are companies out there who will defend your reputation; there are attorneys who will go after the people for you, but ultimately, the damage is done. The only suggestion I can offer is to have a good Internet presence and a good following. If you are active on Facebook posting the good your business does and really interacting with your clientele, you will find that those people will come to your defense. If you have enough people chanting about how good you are, they can drown out the people who are trying to cause you harm.

The Angry Internet
There’s plenty of good out there online, but protecting one’s personal
and professional reputation is becoming serious business.

B.C. HeNsCHeN, a certified pet care technician and an accredited pet trainer, is a partner in PlatINum Pa Ws, a full-service pet salon and premium pet food store in Carmel, Ind. His knowledge of the pet food industry makes Platinum Paws the go-to store for pet owners who want more for their pet than a bag off a shelf.