Since the early years of the 21st century SHARK (Showing Animals Respect & Kindness) has relied on unmanned aerial vehicles and ultralight aircraft to collect the images that it uses to try to bring animal abusers to justice. SHARK deploys its drone fleet to document many forms of abuse, from cock fights to steer-tailing, a cruel form of rodeo entertainment. in 2022 SHARK helped spur the investigation of a beagle-breeding and research facility in Virginia, which resulted in the rescue of 4,000 of the dogs. Steve Hindi, founder and president of SHARK, said the group believes the best way to stop animal abuse is to bring evidence of to light. “I think the way to make things clear for people is to get video documentation or still pictures and let people see for themselves and make up their own mind.”
DRONE LIFE: Because cock fighting is illegal in every U.S. state, the gamblers and promoters of this cruel sport most often resort to holding their events behind high fences or in remote rural areas far from the view of critical eyes.
However, thanks to the efforts of Showing Animals Respect & Kindness (SHARK), a small Illinois-based non-profit which for almost two decades has been using drones to expose cock-fighting and other forms of animal abuse, these abusers have fewer places to hide.
Steve Hindi, founder and president of SHARK, said the group believes the best way to stop animal abuse is to bring evidence of it to light. “I think the way to make things clear for people is to get video documentation or still pictures of whatever you’re concerned about and just let people see for themselves and make up their own mind,” he said…
Since the early years of the 21st century SHARK has relied on unmanned aerial vehicles and ultralight aircraft to collect the images that it uses to try to bring animal abusers to justice. “Obviously, being able to put yourself in the air, you could get past the barriers that animal abusers tend to put up, which can be lots of trees, high walls, fences, whatever,” he said…
SHARK’s drone program really took off following its receipt of a $500,000 grant from the late game show host and-rights activist Bob Barker. SHARK used the grant money to buy its first rudimentary drones and equipment…
Today, the organization deploys a wide array of drones for different operations. “We’ve got Mavics, we’ve got Matrices — we have the new Matrice 400, which is a wonderful aircraft — all the way down to the Mavic Mini”… The group already had begun experimenting with the use of small radio-controlled helicopters to collect airborne images, when the first generation of multi-rotor drones was being introduced…
SHARK deploys its drone fleet to document many forms of abuse, from cock fights to steer-tailing, a cruel form of rodeo entertainment, which causes much suffering to both the steers and the horses involved…
In another well-known incident, in 2022 SHARK helped spur the investigation of a beagle-breeding and research facility in Virginia, which resulted in the rescue of 4,000 of the dogs. Although several large nationally known animal rights groups eventually took part in the investigation, Hindi said SHARK was the first organization to collect video evidence of the abuse taking place at the facility…
Although it is tiny compared with some of the more well-known and better funded animal rights organizations, SHARK’s focus on in-the-field investigations helps it have an outsized impact on animal abuse cases in states across the U.S. The group has helped break up cock-fighting rings in Texas, California and Delaware, and live-pigeon shooting operations in Pennsylvania. JIM MAGILL
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