AI-generated "slop" content is increasingly flooding social media around animals, with fake images and videos being used to scam pet owners, undermine legitimate animal welfare journalism, and drown out authentic conservation content. In one case, a Los Angeles woman named Mibbby Butler was targeted by a scammer who sent an AI-generated photo of her missing cat, Brooklyn, and demanded payment for his "care" before she could get him back; she spotted the fake due to garbled text on a background object and refused to pay, but her cat remains missing four months later.

The problem extends beyond scams to genuine welfare organisations, such as the nonprofit We Animals, which works with 175 photojournalists documenting alleged animal abuse but now faces accusations of using AI itself, even though it bans photographers from doing so. The group plans to counter this by sharing behind-the-scenes verification footage and adopting technology that embeds provenance data into its files. Animal activist Oscar Horta warns that cheaply produced AI fakes, including implausible rescue videos, are crowding out real footage in feeds and search results, potentially eroding trust in genuine rescue efforts, harming fundraising and even encouraging people to act dangerously based on false scenarios.