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ohnoitsyoko writes:

I can see both sides of this argument. There's the urgency to report and stop animal abuse on one hand. However, in some instances, turning over photos and videos to law enforcement could create a problem: if , for example, a sheriff was given the evidence, then took a visit to the farm in question, he would be giving the "heads up" to the farm owner/manager/ trainer ( whether or not it's intended as a favor to the farmer depends on the relationship) . In this example, the person(s) doing the abusing could move the animals to another location, clean up their act just long enough for Humane Society/Animal Cruelty officers to inspect and find nothing. In this case, the 24-48 hour rule of turning over evidence is not a good idea. Evidence of chronic abuse would be more effective for prosecution. But knowing animals are being abused and letting it go on long enough to gather several pieces of evidence is a bad scenario as well.

I wish I had the perfect answer. It should be handled on a case by case basis. Each side of the argument has its own unintended circumstances and results.
