How to Tell If AI Animal Videos Are Real

If you’re on any social media site these days, you’ve undoubtedly come across an animal video that seems too cute, too uncanny, or too quirky to be real. But you’ve probably also seen some you weren’t completely sure whether they were a deepfake or simply the magic of the animal kingdom. 

Maybe you saw the video of an adoption facility where the rescue dogs pick their pet parents (heartwarming … if you overlook the fact that the human faces strangely blur in and out). Or maybe you know someone who was so moved by a post of dogs on a euthanasia list that they donated to what turned out to be a fake rescue. Then there are lost-dog scams, where scammers share AI-doctored images or videos of the missing pet in an attempt to collect ransom.

All of our feeds are crowded with AI slop, but experts say AI-generated animal videos are especially good at going viral because their heightened emotional pull often makes viewers overlook signs that something’s not quite right.

“The most important rule is not to let an emotional video short-circuit background verification,” says Siwei Lyu, distinguished professor and director of the Institute of AI and Data Science at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. “Scammers often use urgency, sympathy, or distress — such as an injured animal, a supposedly lost pet, or an emergency rescue — to lure people into acting quickly.”

With AI-generated content becoming more and more common — and constantly improving in quality — learning to suss out what’s fake or real is important for your safety and your sanity.

Whether you want to avoid being duped by deepfakes or, worse, keep yourself and your loved ones from falling victim to a financial scam, there are a few steps you can take to identify AI-generated animal videos so you’re not blindsided when they hit your feed.

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Look for visual tells

There are a few obvious visual giveaways that an animal video may be AI, if you know what to look for.

Resolution and blurriness

“Sometimes the resolution is different, like the background will be blurry and the pet will be super clear,” says Shaindel Beers, vice president of Pendleton Animal Welfare Shelter (PAWS) in Oregon. People in the background may have blurry faces, hands, or distorted figures. The pet may have both fuzzy texture and fine texture at the same time. Sometimes pausing the video and checking whether the sharpness stays consistent from foreground to background can help tell the fakes from the real ones.

Glitches or visual inconsistencies

Look out for glitches or continuity errors, such as an object randomly appearing or disappearing, or movements by the pet (or person) that are inconsistent. For example, the dog’s tail length may change, a leash may vanish mid-walk, or a person’s clothes may change pattern or color between frames.

Beers is also concerned that the videos perpetuate unrealistic and sometimes dangerous ideas. Take this cutesy video of a toddler and a large dog (made to look even bigger), interacting at a shelter together.

“People seem to think that you’re going to go to a shelter, and you can put your toddler down in front of a kennel and they’re going to let out a giant dog for your toddler to hug,” Beers says. “That’s a huge liability!”

Unrealistic animal behavior

“Some of the videos will have a dog hugging a person’s leg,” Beers says. “And, you know, dogs can’t move that way.” Or dogs interacting in a way that is overly robotic, human, or even too comedic, behaving like a cartoon character. You might see the animal’s reactions timed oddly.

Mismatched wording

Pay attention to the wording throughout the post, too, Beers says. AI-written content is often peppered with inconsistent details. For example, the listed shelter name or location might change, or even the dog’s breed might shift. 

“One post had written ‘Barnaby, a Border Collie,’ and then it was changed to ‘Barnaby, a Blue Heeler,’” Beers says. 

Verify the source

If you get the feeling that something’s off about a video, or it’s paired with a request for payment, be sure to verify the source of the post before you share it, or give them any money, Beers says.

“Google if it’s a real shelter. [The video] might say it was filmed at 2 Rivers Shelter in Los Angeles,” Beers says. “If you Google it and there is no 2 Rivers Shelter in Los Angeles, you know it’s fake.” 

Look into whether the account has any connection to a legit animal rescue organization, or if it exists purely for entertainment (with the hidden goal of scamming funds). Rather than acting as the social media arm of a real nonprofit, perhaps the only function of the account is to post AI-generated dogs on euthanasia lists, go viral, and add a button for donations. 

“Check how long the account has existed, its posting history, whether it has a real-world identity or organization behind it, and whether other credible sources reference it,” Lyu says. Other questions to answer: Was the account newly created? Is the content, verbatim, copied from another source online? Those are also red flags.

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AI-generated videos of animal shelters and rescues have become so rampant on social media feeds that PAWS posted a public service announcement on Facebook urging its followers to stop falling for the fake videos. 

“People will send us videos like, ‘Look at the shelter dog choose its adopter! Your shelter should do this,’” Beers says. “Those videos are not real, and so many people think they are.”

And while there are AI detection tools, like GPTZero or Copyleaks, that you can try, Lyu says doing a little digging and fact-checking yourself, rather than solely leaving it up to a detector.

“AI-detection tools can provide additional evidence, but no detector is 100 percent accurate, so I would not rely on a single program or score to decide whether something is authentic,” Lyu says. 

Be wary of requests for payment

It’s frustrating that these fake pages are monetized, while real-world shelters and rescues work to find homes for animals in need and often fall short on funding. 

As a general rule — AI content aside — whenever you come across a donation link online or any message soliciting funds, double-check who’s asking, what it’s for, and where it’s going before making any payment or sharing banking info. 

If an account claiming to be a shelter or rescue organization is requesting money, you should “independently contact the shelter, rescue organization, [pet parent], or veterinarian through a verified channel” before you contribute, Lyu says.

“Treat AI-generated content as one possible component of the scam,” Lyu says. “The larger warning signs are usually urgency, unverifiable identity, and requests for money.”

When in doubt: block and report

If you’re an animal lover who already follows several (real) shelters, rescues, or animal welfare pages, the algorithm may send more animal content your way — legit or not. When you encounter AI slop, don’t just scroll past it. Block and report, Beers says. 

“The more you block, the less they’ll show up in your feed, and the less they’ll be shown to you and other people,” Beers says.

The best way to support animals in need is to find a real shelter near you and follow them, share their adoptable pets, or donate on their website.