25/07/2025
“helping with one hand, with a camera in the other.”
This statement captures the motivations of many scammers and so called K-9 Handlers that responded to Texas. They showed up at the invitation of random organizations that have no credibility (or no invitation at all) and their only contribution was to post pictures and videos to social media to drive donations and get likes and praise from their social media followers.
IF YOU NEED TO BEG FOR DONATIONS TO GO, THEN DON'T GO. That money is much better spent for the people who've lost all of their physical belongings and their loved ones.
Posting pictures and videos of people's destroyed vehicles and homes with no regard for the suffering of the residents, but someone on social media told me how I was a hero, so all is well.
Hey, everyone look at this amazing adventure that I just had, it was so much fun! Please like and follow!!
Little to any mention of the 137+ lives lost.
The weddings that will have no father to give away the bride, the babies that will never meet their grandmother, the children that will never have another birthday party, the holidays without the life of the party, the Sunday morning brunch with a best friend, the empty bedrooms in the home that's a memorial to a person who's never coming back, the parents that will never be called Mom or Dad again.
No mention of that, but hey social media told me I was so incredibly brave so my heart is full.
How can we as K-9 handlers claim to be there to help, but truly our primary motivation is to show the world how great we are. Many have shown their true colors. The impulses of the heart are displayed on their social media pages. Praise is essential, and without praise why would I do SAR? So I post a destroyed house, and watch the comments come in on FB telling me I'm great (dopamine dump) so then I must post more so I continue feeling good about myself.
This undoubtedly happened in NC as well, I'm sure you can check many of the so called handlers FB page and see the same non-sense as well, and it will continue to happen at future disasters.
The question I have for the people who are doing this the right way, and for the right reasons....
Why do we allow people to be apart of our community when we see them do this? Why not saying anything? What is the limit, some idiot "handler" posting human remains on FB?
If we remain silent, it will never stop.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/influencers-central-texas-floods/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLwZ1RleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFJUGpXRXhKcElLeklrSGRaAR7T1ZnXuMMp9F318KTsxtPmLYmPe4Egz2gW56H16JbQbNqNqvX_9iXpCU9UOQ_aem_iGPE2c0wLJdd7hJzJSytJg
After the July 4 disaster, independent content creators arrived in the Hill Country alongside news reporters, marking an uneasy merging of social media and journalism.
