Sina Hoffmann and Stefanie Schneider are committed to street cats on Mallorca. But the fight for the animals has now also become a fight against cyberbullying. About the extent of hate on the internet and the nightmare of those who only want one thing: to help.
"Unfortunately, the law forbids personal initiative to get them around the corner. (...) They just have to get off the island! (...) This filthy ***** association is carrying out genocide on cats! (...) They finance themselves heavily Lips and luxury cars from the donations. (...) They could be on fire in front of me. I wouldn't even pee them out."
These are just some of the comments that the founders of the animal welfare organization Cats Karma Mallorca, Sina Hoffmann and Stefanie Schneider have to endure. They have been victims of hate and hate speech online for a year. The everyday life of the two dedicated animal rights activists no longer consists of the daily struggle to save street cats, but also of defending themselves against the unfounded allegations and not breaking down in a hate campaign.
Hoffmann and Schneider are committed to street cats on Mallorca. The island has an immense problem with overpopulation. There are also many abandoned pets. "Corona has made everything worse," says Schneider. "You see abandoned animals everywhere in Mallorca. They are often sick, hit or literally ended up in the garbage or in the killing station."
This is also confirmed by Farah de Tomi from the Animal Police Association. The emigrant has also made it her life's work to save animals from precarious situations on Mallorca. She says: "The worst time was during the pandemic, when the state decided with the veterinary office that castrations should no longer be carried out with immediate effect." Sina Hoffmann from Cats Karma mentions the many cat emergencies: "We actually have to stop admission because our capacities are limited. But there are so many animals that urgently need help."
Abandoned pets, according to de Tomi, are "unfortunately commonplace: cats, dogs, birds... At some point the animals are simply no longer wanted, for various reasons such as moving or veterinary costs. It's unbelievable how you can treat a creature that has accompanied you for a year , just give it up and leave it behind."
Many clubs, including Cats Karma, use social media to draw attention to their work. Everyday life is shown, sick animals and, of course, those who could be treated and healed thanks to donations from supporters. The long-term goal: placement in a loving home. "The gratitude of these animals, which often never experienced empathy in their lives and often come into our care more dead than alive, keeps us going at all. It would be a lie to say that hate hasn't worn us down," he said Sina Hoffmann. Sometimes she thinks everything is "just a nightmare that I hope to wake up from."
Jana Hoger from the animal protection organization PETA knows the problem many animal rights activists have with hate and hate speech online: "Unfortunately, there are not only supporters. You also get on the radar of haters. This is a topic that is extremely stressful. As an animal rights activist you are regular Exposed to hate speech on the internet. For example, I am often on the road in Romania. As a person, I also receive private messages. It does something to you, especially when it gets below the belt. These are people who want to finish you off! It is important to draw public attention to this topic of internet hate speech in connection with animal welfare."
The hatred that has been pouring out about Cats Karma for a year now comes from two sides and finds its origin in a photo showing a cat in a quarantine cage that the association had published months earlier. The image was shared many times by influencers with a wide reach. In addition, decrying sentences like: "Cats are treated so badly at Cats Karma. The poor animals are locked in dirty cages under the most adverse conditions!" Followed by calls for a boycott of donations. The truth behind the photo: It was an animal rescued from the street suffering from feline distemper (panleukopeni). Cat disease is highly contagious. Sick animals must remain in quarantine until they recover. Just like all newcomers - until they are vaccinated and the incubation period is over.
The cyberbullying also comes from the Facebook group: "Cats Karma VERY critically questioned". It currently has around 300 members. This "critical questioning" is shown, among other things, in the fact that the founders' killing scenarios are provided with smileys and calls are made to make life difficult for Cats Karma. Authorities in Germany and Spain were alerted - from the German public prosecutor's office to the Spanish animal protection police SEPRONA. The result of all the harassment: after a thorough examination of all allegations, the public prosecutor's office dropped all proceedings.
But does the hate stop there? Not at all. Leaked photos of one of the two founders end up in the group: "This is what the head of the gang looks like. (...) Maybe she should go steal condoms." Defamation is the order of the day. It's getting more and more perfidious, people applaud each other in comments. Cats Karma is like "Colonia Dignidad" - the sect in which boys were systematically abused by sect founder Paul Schäfer. You know it from "Netflix" (...) or - as member Daggi S. jokes - from "catflix". There are also threats to the "bastards": "I know where you are." Or: "I'm behind you."
The author of this report also tried to gain admission to this closed group in order to listen to "the other side". Admission was denied. Press inquiries to members were answered in the group, followed by defamation, insults, lies. Group Administrator "Umm K." alias Jessica T. answers the question why threats are not deleted: You "don't hang on your cell phone 24 hours a day". And the commentator Sabine S. says: "bringing someone around the corner" can also be understood as "sarcasm".
The accusation of "one-sided research" quickly falls. In fact, there were inquiries, conversations and interviews with adopters, people who themselves reported emergencies, animal rights activists and animal protection organizations such as PETA or the Animal Police Association. Hundreds of screenshots of hate comments were seen. In addition, chat histories, documents from the public prosecutor's office, interviews with active group members as well as silent and former ones who want nothing to do with all the hate anymore, because: "The whole thing has", as "Goodbye Germany!" emigrant Nadesha Leitze says, " really taken on proportions." To date, she was the only one who publicly apologized to the animal welfare organization for taking part in the actions against Cats Karma.
PETA's Jana Hoger says what's happening to Cats Karma is "one sad story shared by many" but it's "important to stay positive". There are also two million street cats in Germany. At the same time, unfortunately, "the willingness to donate is declining. An unbelievable number of animals are currently being procured. (...) And while cats end up in the garbage, there is still torture breeding on the other side." Farah de Tomi also takes responsibility for politics: "You absolutely have to rethink, that's a must! There is no way around this measure!"
The situation on Mallorca is not unknown, Hoger continued about animal protection abroad: "Something has to change in the situation and in society! That's why it's important to do educational work." What can that look like in detail? Hoger says: "You could teach children and young people empathy and compassion for animals at school. For example, through the subject: animal welfare. (...) So many animals are treated like garbage."
The hatred that is often directed against those who want to help online has nothing to do with "critical questioning" or with animal welfare. Hoger's tip: "Focus on the positive, report hate comments, filter them, ignore them and draw attention to the topic."
In the case of Cats Karma, the smear campaign has taken on Kafkaesque features. Members of the hostile group maintain dozens of fake profiles. De Tomi puts it in a nutshell: "The worst thing of all is that animal rights activists are also at war with each other. I always wonder if this is resentment or envy. We should all stick together to achieve great things! If we were to have a great one If we form a community lobby, we could also put pressure on the state, but unfortunately it's not a cooperation, it's a conflict."
For the animal rights activist Nicole Sevindik, who campaigned for dogs in Turkey, the attention for her work and the hatred on the internet comes too late. One of her colleagues writes on her website: "A dear animal rights activist left us forever, bullied us and drove her to her death." The 47-year-old took his own life on September 20, 2022.
When asked whether cyberbullyers were even aware of how hate and hate speech affects people's psyches and lives, Monika K., a member of the group that delights in the idea of the founders "burning To see: "If you hadn't staged yourselves so publicly for years and rescued and hoarded cats with all your might, you would have been spared all that."
