01/23/2026
The incident in Jiangmen, Guangdong, China, involving a minor (under 14-year-old girl) who brutally tortured and filmed a violent video of a cat has continued to draw public attention and scrutiny.
The minor not only engaged in numerous acts of extreme cruelty towards the cat, including locking it in a cage and repeatedly submerging it in a community pond, as well as stomping on it with force until it was near death.
She also filmed these violent acts and actively disseminated the footage, in which she appeared and was accompanied by provocative audio. The content was bloody and violent, severely challenging the public’s psychological threshold. The core focus of public complaints revolves around the act of disseminating the video itself, rather than simply debating whether it constitutes animal cruelty. The production and spread of such bloody and violent content directly endanger the health of the online ecosystem and social norms, falling under the clear regulations of laws such as the Cybersecurity Law and the Protection of Minors Law.
However, the response from the public security authorities was marked by perplexing contradictions and confusion. On the morning of January 8, 2026, the police informed the person who had filed the report that they had confiscated the phone of the juvenile involved and had taken the individual to a mental hospital.
Yet, that afternoon, the juvenile used WeChat to publicly provoke netizens. Later that night, she appeared carefree in the neighborhood, moving freely, which contradicts the police’s claim that she had been “sent to a hospital.”
On January 9, the police further responded by stating that “the content of the report does not provide evidence of animal cruelty.” They even downplayed the repeated acts of tormenting animals in the video, describing them as “bathe[ing] a cat.” This evasive and illogical response not only failed to quell public concerns but also heightened skepticism about the credibility of law enforcement. The clear sound of the juvenile’s family calling out in the video indicates that family members were present and aware of what was happening but did not take any steps to stop it.
