We are calling for urgent action to stop two horrific and illegal practices that continue to cause unimaginable suffering to cats and dogs in China:

“It’s time that China adopts an anti-cruelty law,”

❌ 1. The Cat and Dog Meat Trade
Thousands of cats and dogs—many of them stolen pets—are trapped, trafficked, and slaughtered for their meat. They are kept in filthy, overcrowded cages, often beaten or skinned alive, and sold as pork or mutton. Though illegal under food safety laws, this trade continues to operate in the shadows due to weak enforcement.

❌ 2. Online Animal Torture Videos ("Crush" Content)
In an even more disturbing trend, some individuals are livestreaming or recording the torture of cats for money. Viewers can pay to request specific acts of violence. These videos spread across dark corners of the internet and Chinese social platforms, turning horrific abuse into entertainment.

HOW CAN ANY GOVERNMENT IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD WANT THEIR OWN CITIZENS TO ACT IN THESE WAYS. 

Wang Wenda, director of students’ psychological health at Xinhua College of Ningxia University, was quoted as saying. “They might not only hurt animals but also people if they do not get proper guidance and help.” 

Criminologist Jenny Edwards says the “primary driver” of this fetish is sadism – a “sexual deviance” which is “getting sexual arousal from watching these (videos) or feeling the pain of discomfort and humiliation of seeing another being suffering.”

“It’s part of antisocial, psychopathic behavior,” Edwards added.

CNN ARTICLE

Every night after returning home from work, Chen opens his laptop and switches to his secret life as an undercover activist.

From his bedroom in eastern China, he spends hours witnessing scenes too graphic for a horror movie and trying to befriend people who would be his sworn enemies in real life.

Chen – a pseudonym to protect his real identity – is part of a team of internet sleuths whose mission is to shut down a shadowy global network that mutilates and kills cats for profit.

An exclusive CNN investigation shows that in the past year, these groups have expanded in scale and popularity around the world – and moved into more mainstream platforms including Telegram, X and YouTube.

Consumers of these videos often have a sexual fetish for animal cruelty – known as “zoosadism” – deriving pleasure from watching the suffering of defenceless animals, experts told CNN.

“It’s become a pretty international phenomenon,” said Jenny Edwards, a criminologist and specialist in animal sexual abuse, based in Seattle. “It is happening much more often than people realize.” 

Activists say many of the cat torturers are based in China, where there are no laws against animal cruelty. Protected by an apparent culture of impunity, they make videos for consumers around the world – including in the United States, UK, Turkey and Japan.

CNN has submitted questions to the Chinese government about this issue, so far without response.

Undercover with the cat torturers
During a months-long investigation, CNN infiltrated some of the encrypted chat groups in China which are promoting and distributing videos of cat torture.

The chat groups provide a snapshot of an underworld where torture is trivialized and celebrated as if it’s part of a video game.

A culture of competition has also developed among members to suggest the most inventive style of abuse – while creating heroes out of the perpetrators.

CNN observed as members swapped stories of purported exploits and proposed new forms of depravity. 

Chen was in similar groups. For years, he’s been watching gruesome videos and befriending torturers to gather enough information to track them down.

He’s part of an alliance of activists called Feline Guardians, who hope that drawing attention to the issue will pressure law enforcement globally to take more action – particularly in China.

“China is now experiencing a wave of cat abuse, from elementary school students all the way to the elderly participating in it,” Chen said.

Chen says the number of people involved in Chinese-based networks is “growing larger and larger,” and include foreigners outside the country.

Data gathered by Feline Guardians showed a 500% increase in new torture videos added to the Chinese Telegram groups they monitor between June 2024 and February 2025 – with a new video being uploaded on average around every 2.5 hours. In the first two months of this year, more than 500 new torture videos have been uploaded, with most coming from previously unknown abusers.

Cat torture videos are being shared five times more than they were eight months ago
A new torture video was uploaded to Telegram channels in China every 2 hours and 38 minutes in February 2025 — up from every 14 hours in June 2024 — according to the activist group Feline Guardians and investigation agency Nexus. In the first two months of this year alone, over 300 abused cats have been identified. 

Some of this content is also available on mainstream websites, including a YouTube account seen by CNN which had “playlists” with more than 800 videos of cats being killed. After CNN requested comment, YouTube removed the channel and an associated one for “violating its policies,” and a spokesperson said, “content depicting violence or abuse toward animals has no place on YouTube.” 

‘They are treated like celebrities’
More than 5,000 miles away from Chen in London, Feline Guardians activist Lara has been monitoring the global spread of this content.

“It starts off in China, and then you have people who mimic these videos from elsewhere, (and) we have children who are exposed to this,” said Lara, who asked to only use her first name to avoid online retribution.

There is a drive with not only being able to get the satisfaction of torturing horrifically cats, but also the feedback and the notoriety that they receive

Lara, Feline Guardians activist
When Lara first learned about the trade in cat torture, she said her reaction was “surely this must be embellished.” But very quickly, she had her eyes opened to the extent of this dark subculture.

READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE: https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/30/asia/china-cat-deleters-torture-intl-hnk-dst

🛑 We Demand Action:
We, the undersigned, urge the following:

🇨🇳 To the Chinese Government:

Pass legislation NOW that explicitly criminalizes animal torture, including online abuse for profit.

Enforce a nationwide ban on the cat & dog meat trade, including arrests and prosecution of traffickers.

Investigate and shut down networks hosting or profiting from live animal torture videos.

Fund and support animal shelters and rescue operations in high-risk provinces.

🌍 To Global Platforms, Lawmakers & Human Rights Organizations:
Pressure major platforms (Chinese and international) to immediately remove animal torture content.

Sanction or ban users and groups involved in animal cruelty livestreams.
Promote international animal welfare standards and trade conditions that include cruelty-free benchmarks.

🙏 Why This Matters
This petition is not an attack on a country—it is a call to protect life and to support the many brave Chinese activists and citizens already working to rescue cats, expose these crimes, and build a more compassionate society.

We ask you to sign and share this petition, stand with the voiceless, and help bring global attention to this urgent issue. Together, we can end this cruelty.

Cats are not food. Cats are not entertainment. Cats are family.
People that hurt Cats will not stop there, they will continue to harm.

NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT - This is getting worse and worse by the day, even by the minute.  Never have we seen it this bad and it is only growing.  We know this is hard, we know it is easy to just not think about it because it is not in front of you. But look at your pet at home, can you image someone doing this to them?  Hurting them in horrific way?  It has to stop.  This is not how humans act towards animals that can not defend themselves.  Torture is the worst form of human violence.  Humans that can torture animals will only lead to worse behaviour.

PLEASE SIGN THIS AND PASS IT ALONG AND KEEP IT GOING!!  DO NOT LET THIS FADE AWAY.