A previously debunked claim stated without evidence that the World Economic Forum called for euthanizing millions of pets to fight climate change.
“WEF wants to slaughter millions of pet cats and dogs to fight climate change,” said the text on a TikTok video shared June 28 on Facebook.
The video’s narrator said the World Economic Forum launched the euthanization “initiative” to reduce carbon that pets produce from eating meat.
A carbon footprint refers to the amount of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, that are produced through human actions. Meanwhile, a carbon “pawprint” is created by such processes as producing and transporting meat for pet food.
Most of the world’s scientists agree that greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere from human activity are driving climate change.
The video was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Like a similar claim in December that we rated Pants on Fire!, the video cited a September CNN article that offered tips to minimize carbon pawprints, such as meat-free food alternatives for dogs. The article did not suggest killing pets.
The Facebook video included no evidence to back its claim.
We found no mention of killing pets in an advanced search of the World Economic Forum’s Twitter account, a search of the group’s website or a Google search. When the claim initially surfaced in December, a forum spokesperson said “the WEF has never made such a statement.”
Other fact-checkers debunked this claim in December.
The World Economic Forum is an international organization that holds an annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss global commerce and political concerns and attracts the world’s top government and business officials. The forum is often a target of conspiracy theorists.
The claim that the WEF called for euthanizing millions of pets to fight climate change is false and ridiculous — we rate it Pants on Fire!
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