Friend,
Hidden inside encrypted online groups, cats and kittens are being tortured to death for entertainment.
Members of these networks film animals being electrocuted, drowned and starved while others watch, comment and share the footage. In some groups, new torture videos appear roughly every 14 hours.
Cats are tied down and electrocuted while their bodies convulse in agony. When the animal collapses and appears to die, the torturers sometimes shock them again to restart their heart. The goal is not simply to kill the cat. It is to keep the animal alive just long enough to suffer even more.
Members discuss techniques in chat groups, explaining how electrocution can revive a cat so the torture can continue.
Some animals are forced underwater until they panic and thrash for air. Others are locked in cages and starved while their slow deterioration is filmed.
Kittens are often targeted because they are easier to control. Some perpetrators openly suggest adopting kittens from rescue centres specifically so they can mutilate them on camera.
Thousands of people are believed to participate in these online torture networks, sharing videos, trading images and pushing each other to inflict more extreme cruelty.
It is organised, escalating and, right now, the law is failing to stop it.
Those responsible often operate across borders, hiding behind anonymous accounts while animals suffer horrific deaths for the entertainment of strangers online.
If we do not act now, these networks will continue to grow.
Cats and kittens will continue to be tortured. And those responsible will continue to believe they can get away with it.
– Team AWIP