Trial by social media a concern

I'M NOT what you'd call a crazy dog person but I do have a soft spot for man's best friend.

I'M NOT what you'd call a crazy dog person but I do have a soft spot for man's best friend.

You probably have to when you own three of them, and they regularly chew the guts out of everything you own that is within their reach.

Needless to say, recent footage from north Queensland of a man beating a dog for no apparent reason made my blood boil, as it probably did for a good 98% of the general population, dog lovers or not.

The reaction was naturally widespread and with the benefit of social media, this story went everywhere quickly.

A man was caught on CCTV bashing a dog in North Mackay. Picture: RSPCA

Social media is good in some regards, and not so good in others.

Yesterday, I noted that the name and address that supposedly belong to this troubled chap were plastered all over social media.

You can imagine the type of comments that followed. It was another sad case of trial by Facebook.

I wonder what if, by chance, someone mistakenly got the offender's name and/or address wrong?

Could it result in an innocent person being bashed up or killed? There seems to be no justification for the beating that man gave that dog, but are the actions of social media lynch mobs and keyboard warriors any more impressive?