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CNN
3 days ago
- General
- CNN
The secret war between cat lovers and the abusers who profit from cruelty
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. 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. 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.' 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. 'They are treated like celebrities,' Lara said. 'So, 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 and Chen, along with their fellow activists, keep in constant contact despite most of them having day jobs – often staying up all night across different time zones as they try to track down the torturers. Their detective work involves combing through every frame of the footage, examining the background for clues on location or identity, and trying to glean information from their bank details if they are selling their content online. 'Through repeatedly watching it, we can roughly determine some details about their life,' Chen said. '(Then) we can conduct some investigations locally.' Most core groups require recording a video that volunteers can't do - that is, taking a cat from being full of life and torturing it to death Chen, one of a group of internet sleuths whose mission is to shut down a shadowy global network that mutilates and kills cats for profit When they think they are closing the net, they also conduct interviews with local people and neighbors, in case they witnessed or overheard anything that could be used as evidence. Chen often poses as a zoosadist, who is trying to buy torture material, to gain the trust of fellow members. But some groups also demand complicity as their entry criteria. 'Most core groups require recording a video that volunteers can't do – that is, taking a cat from being full of life and torturing it to death,' Chen said. Still, in the past few years, he has managed to delve so deep within Chinese torture networks that he's exposed the identities of more than a dozen perpetrators. Entering the disturbing world of these networks exposes an entire subculture with its own terminology and hierarchical structure. In forums CNN entered on mainstream websites, community members referred to themselves as 'cat lovers,' partly to mock real cat lovers but also to disguise their activities. Once inside dedicated chat rooms, creators were also sometimes called 'cat deleters' or 'masters' and the consumers who paid for the videos were known as 'sponsors.' Collectively, they appear to view themselves as vigilantes who aim to get rid of all 'evil cats' – possibly also to provide a falsified sense of justification for their crimes. The creators even advertise specific cats for 'torture to order' which enables buyers to select the animal, the tools and tactics of their death – all for a price. These videos show cats being burnt alive, they have been liquefied in blenders Lara, Feline Guardians activist Promotional posters are shared showing a photo, name and age of the cat, along with their 'shelf life,' indicating the date they plan to kill them. The 'sponsors' are urged to 'contact customer service' to receive a quote. 'There is a sadistic and twisted mindset for these torturers where they try to elongate the torture as long as possible,' said Lara. 'These videos show cats being burnt alive, they have been liquefied in blenders,' Lara said. 'There have been cases of cats being dismembered and their guts being pulled out and stretched.' The suffering of the animals is also turned into searchable terms – including 'T-Rex' for cats that have had their front legs cut off and can only stand on their back legs. A Chinese consumer who regularly pays for this sort of gratuitously violent content admits that it gives him a sexual thrill. 'Watching these videos gives me much stronger pleasure than sex,' said Zhang, who agreed to speak to CNN over the phone on the condition that we didn't use his real name. A married man in his mid-twenties, Zhang said he first started watching animal torture videos when he was a teenager, after he saw a report about it on the news. 'It's just this fetish that I can't quit,' Zhang said. 'This is much harder to quit than cigarettes.' So far, Zhang has spent thousands of dollars buying cat torture videos through the networks, which can cost from a few dollars to $50 each. He added that his wife 'doesn't know about this thing,' and would likely divorce him if she did. Zhang says he can't afford to order the custom videos that are set at a much higher price, often over $1,300. But he says the other members are usually 'rich people,' who he claims include officials, programmers and managers, some of whom share WeChat IDs showing their name, company or government department. Zhang says in the outside world, he is 'quite normal' and would never personally hurt an animal – and even keeps rescued cats and dogs as pets at home. But he admits that he enjoys watching women torture cats, especially if they crush them with high heels. They've said that they'll come and skin my dog, they're going to kill my pets and family Phaedra, US-based independent animal rights activist 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. She says zoosadists often hide their proclivities from their families and friends. 'They are leading a double life, because they have this whole other life that they completely keep separate from everything else that they're doing,' Edwards said. Some have threatened physical violence against activists who try to expose their secret lives. Phaedra, a US-based independent animal rights activist who asked to go only by her first name, said she was doxxed – the process of revealing someone's real identity – and targeted by anonymous accounts, after highlighting graphic torture content on X to prompt censors to take them down. Phaedra says she also tried to alert Chinese and US officials. As revenge, some of the abusers used Phaedra's photograph from her X account to create deepfake pornography of her – and one even used a photo of her as a child alongside dead cats and a sign that read 'I'm coming for you Phaedra.' 'They've said that they'll come and skin my dog, they're going to kill my pets and family,' Phaedra said. In December 2024, she also received death and rape threats via X. At one point, she was terrified – thinking they'd find out where she lived and come through her bedroom window – but added that she's 'not afraid of them anymore.' Chen, the undercover volunteer, said most people he encounters in the groups are lonely men who feel left behind by society, which suggests they are also searching for connection within these groups – bonded by their unspeakable hobby. He described them as 'incels' – involuntary celibates – who feel rejected by women and therefore get sexual pleasure from hurting an animal that most women love. They're becoming more elaborate with what they're doing, and far more methodical Lara, Feline Guardians activist Activists say some consumers are also drawn to this content because the screams of a cat sound similar to those of women, or children – prompting fears that the behaviors in this online underworld could develop into the abuse of humans. 'They're becoming more elaborate with what they're doing, and far more methodical,' Lara from Feline Guardians said. 'This will only get worse.' For example, Chen said in 2024, a sickening mission emerged to target an app called 'Street Cat,' which livestreams stray cats or those in shelters for cat enthusiasts to watch. The networks hacked into the app's servers to obtain the locations, and they offered a bounty to anyone who could catch a cat, cut them into pieces, then throw the remains in front of the livestream cameras. Street Cat declined to comment to CNN. In the US, Feline Guardians also found evidence of a crossover between cat torture and neo-Nazi groups, including one private Telegram group called 'The Eternal Reich' with more than 600 members, which mixed torture content with videos of abuse against women and posts on far-right ideology. One member posted a photo of himself holding two dead cats in front of an American flag. Social media companies have come under pressure for not doing enough to prevent the proliferation of this sort of extreme, and in most places, illegal content. 'The platforms are social media networks, mainly end-to-end encrypted platforms such as Telegram,' Lara said. 'Also, these videos are being shared on other social media platforms like X, Instagram and Facebook.' Often potential consumers are recruited directly by the torture rings via a direct message. The challenge is we don't have a cohesive way of attacking it Jenny Edwards, criminologist and specialist in animal sexual abuse If they have commented on a graphic video on YouTube or Facebook, they might receive an invitation to free-to-join Telegram groups with thousands of members. Those who want more depraved content, or want to order something specific, can join smaller, more extreme Telegram groups. 'It definitely needs to be restricted, and a lot of it can and should be restricted by the social media provider,' Edwards said. 'The challenge is we don't have a cohesive way of attacking it.' Edwards said in most countries legislation is too weak and inadequate to fit the extent of these crimes, and that law enforcement should be pushing tech companies to do more. CNN sent multiple requests for comment to the tech giants on their approach to this issue. 'Content that promotes or glorifies violence is explicitly forbidden,' a Telegram spokesperson said, and 'any groups, channels or users found distributing violent content are immediately banned.' Hundreds of moderators using AI tools are removing 'millions of pieces of harmful content each day,' the spokesperson said. In January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg announced sweeping changes to Facebook's online moderation policies, including reducing fact-checking while acknowledging more harmful content would appear as a result of the changes. Meta declined to comment to CNN other than to point to their policies which include removing some content that is 'particularly violent or graphic.' X – which also reduced vetting following Elon Musk's takeover of social media network Twitter in 2022 – did not respond to CNN's questions on this issue. In China – which has some of the world's most tightly-controlled internet restrictions – censors rarely remove any cat torture content, Chen said. 'In most situations there is no supervision of this,' Chen said. 'China's censorship of political content and pornography is very strict, but with animal abuse, basically no threshold has been set.' Multiple cases of cat abuse in China have been reported by state media in the past few years, but most alleged that the perpetrators did not face any legal consequences. Other countries with animal cruelty legislation have made multiple arrests of cat torturers in recent years – including the US, Canada and Turkey. In the UK, two teenagers were recently charged with causing animal suffering, after a pair of kittens were found dead and mutilated in north-west London on May 3. The local police also wrote a letter to schools in the area, warning them of an increase in reports of young people committing acts of cruelty towards animals. In Turkey – which is known for its abundance of street cats – five members of a cat torture network were arrested in January 2024 for 'abusing cats and engaging in organizational propaganda.' More arrests were made in February and September last year, including one for 'torture of a kitten.' 'In Turkey, within these groups, there are up to 15,000 members, possibly even more,' Lara said. 'So these networks are spreading, and they mimic what the same networks in China have been doing.' The Turkish Interior Ministry did not respond to CNN's request for comment. Activists say the role of legislation and enforcement is critical to shutting these networks down. High-profile cases in recent years include a monkey torture ring originating in Indonesia which was exposed and dismantled in 2023. British man Adam Britton was also jailed in August 2024 for torturing and sexually abusing dozens of dogs in Australia and sharing the videos on Telegram. Peter Li, an associate professor of East Asian politics at the University of Houston-Downtown and a China policy specialist for Humane Society International, says China is the only major industrialized country that does not have comprehensive anti-cruelty laws. 'It's time that China adopts an anti-cruelty law,' Li said, though he conceded that it was 'a politically challenging issue.' Li said multiple proposals have been submitted over the past two decades to China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress, but they have never progressed – partly due to fears they could impede the farming industry, and due to a cultural lack of concern for animal welfare among China's older generation. But with the growing number of pets in China – totalling more than 120 million in urban areas alone – the pressure to legislate for the protection of animals, especially from younger pet owners, will likely only increase. Beyond the suffering of animals, Li says there are also 'broad social consequences' for allowing this trend to spiral. 'You would encourage copycat behaviors,' Li said. 'Most of the audience are young people, and (they) would be desensitized.' In 2024, Chinese state media reported at least four separate cases of university students allegedly torturing cats. China Daily, the country's official English-language newspaper, reported in May that 'incidents of students being punished for torturing animals have been on the rise.' The article said the alleged offenders had been punished, but didn't specify what punishment they'd received, beyond at least two expulsions. 'Simply expelling the students cannot solve the problem,' 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.' Links between cruelty to animals and to humans – documented by multiple global studies – could ultimately drive law enforcement in China – and elsewhere – to take the issue more seriously. 'It starts off with cat torture,' said Lara. 'There have been multiple cases of people who go off to commit other crimes, such as serial killers, but also those that we don't hear of – abuse within the home (and) maybe children.' 'There is a crossover here, and so they're just acting out a fantasy through cats.' For campaigners, there's no choice but to keep going, despite the huge impact on their own mental health. 'It's definitely changed the way that I view the world,' said Lara. 'I believe that I have taken on something which I am committed to for the rest of my life, until this changes.' On May 18, Lara helped to organize global protests calling for an end to cat torture, held in more than 20 major cities around the world. Chen said he had sought medical support for his mental health, but he'll keep logging on every night because each sickening video takes him closer to a potential arrest. He said he'll watching in the hope of ending the depravity, because 'someone has to do it, right?' Madalena Araújo, Isil Sariyuce contributed reporting Story Editors: Hilary Whiteman, Jerome Taylor Video: Vina Salazar, Alex Dicker, Dan Hodge, Martin Bourke, Kevin Broad Data and Graphics Editor: Lou Robinson Illustration and Motion Designer: Alberto Mier Visual Editor: Mark Oliver
CNN
14-05-2025
- Science
- CNN
Ancient poetry unveils history of critically endangered finless porpoises, scientists say
A research team in China got creative in its efforts to save a critically endangered species by turning to ancient poems. The scientists pored over more than 700 ancient Chinese poems from the Tang through the Qing dynasties that mention the Yangtze finless porpoise to find out where and when poets described seeing the animal because little is known about its population history. The Yangtze finless porpoise — the world's only freshwater porpoise — has faced extreme declines in numbers in the past four decades. With fewer than 1,300 individuals left in the wild, scientists in eastern China have made huge efforts to better understand the animal's past habitat range to better inform future conservation initiatives. The findings were stark: The data suggests that the historic range of the finless porpoise has shrunk by 65% over the past 1,200 years, with the most extreme reduction happening over the past century. The team published the findings in the journal Current Biology on May 5. 'Some older fishers told me they used to frequently see porpoises in areas where they've now disappeared completely,' study coauthor Zhigang Mei told CNN in an email. 'That really sparked my curiosity: Where did these porpoises historically live?' Yangtze finless porpoises only live in the middle-lower Yangtze River basin in eastern China. From the early 1980s until the 2010s, the population steeply declined an estimated 60%, according to a 2014 study, due to a combination of illegal fishing practices, industrial pollution in waterways, dams and sand mining in the adjoining lakes. Because hard scientific data for the porpoise only exists for recent decades, scientists have a very narrow understanding of its spatial distribution. This creates a problem known as shifting baseline syndrome, explained Mei, a professor at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Wuhan. '(This research) answers important questions about what constitutes a healthy population,' he said, which will help with setting realistic management goals. 'Without historical baselines, there is a risk of shifting expectations downward over generations, accepting an ever-declining status as 'normal.'' When Mei and his colleagues started poking around archives for answers, they were surprised. Official records such as local gazettes and county chronicles didn't have any information about the porpoises — only terrestrial megafauna like tigers and elephants, species that have frequent conflict with humans. Porpoises, in contrast, are less likely to have close encounters with humans. (No drama, no record.) Instead, sightings were typically by local, less-educated anglers or wealthy travelers — who caught glimpses of the elusive porpoises while traveling the Yangtze River by boat — and weren't formally recorded, Mei said. Facing this dead end, the scientists realized ancient poems could come in handy. 'We were amazed,' Mei said of the researchers efforts to explore written documentation via literature. The authors sorted through hundreds of poems dating back to AD 830 that referenced porpoises. For each poem, the scientists looked for evidence of locations, such as descriptions of unique geographical features of the Yangtze River basin. Then, the team researched the poem's time period and each poets' personal history to ensure their accuracy. About half of the poems contained precise location information, allowing the team to map sightings for each dynasty. Ancient Chinese poetry is often nonfiction, including first-person accounts of everyday life and observations of nature, the authors explained. That's why the poems served as a reasonable metric for finless porpoise sightings throughout the river basin. 'Emerald seals the jade-green tiles as idle dawn clouds drift / Specks of porpoises vanish between the waves' swift lift,' reads one Qing Dynasty poem by Gu Silì 顾嗣立 called 'Crossing the River in Rain, Looking at Jinshan,' as translated by lead study author Yaoyao Zhang, an ecologist at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 'It's beautiful, actually,' said Paulo Corti, a conservation ecologist at Austral University of Chile who was not involved in the research. 'They did something great with some very simple information.' Using historic materials for science isn't uncommon — especially in paleontology or archaeology — but it's less often used for wildlife research, Corti said. 'It's a very useful tool, especially when you refine the analysis, taking those qualitative data into quantitative (data),' he said. The poetry data only offers an estimate. However, it's the study authors' best source for formulating how the Yangtze finless porpoise population's distribution changed before modern times. Such studies need to be conducted carefully, adds Corti, who has written journal articles about responsibly using historical records for wildlife studies after noticing that some scientists were using such data inappropriately. One major limitation of cultural records is human error, he explained. A fisherman or hunter, for example, is a more reliable observer than a foreign explorer likely to misidentify similar-looking animals. That's why the study authors researched each poet's background, such as where they lived and traveled, to verify their observations. The Yangtze finless porpoise looks distinct, with a short snout, dark gray color and signature lack of a dorsal fin, which sets it apart from its dolphin relatives. As mammals, porpoises need to surface for air, making them visible to humans, said study coauthor Jiajia Liu, a professor of biodiversity science at Fudan University in Shanghai. And because finless porpoises did not historically hold cultural importance, it was less likely for poets to write about them without a literal observation, he added. For these reasons, the researchers trusted the poems for data. That said, the authors acknowledge that some historical references of the river porpoise could be confused with the now-extinct baiji, a freshwater dolphin that lived in the Yangtze. But this species was much bigger, lighter-colored, and touted a long snout — its most distinguishing feature, Mei said. Indeed, the baiji serves as a cautionary tale for the finless porpoise. The freshwater dolphin already became functionally extinct in 2006 from many of the same threats. Extinction of the finless porpoise would throw the ecosystem out of balance, Liu explained. As a top predator, the porpoise eats fish that feed on aquatic grasses. The rare mammal is also an ecosystem engineer by facilitating a process called nutrient cycling. By migrating long distances, the finless porpoise carries nitrogen and phosphorus from the river bottom to its surface, and from downstream to upstream. Now that there is some evidence that the finless porpoise lived not only in the main river, but also in tributaries and lakes, scientists have a better idea of where the porpoise historically thrived — and whether it might thrive in those locations once again. With captive breeding — a process in which endangered species are bred in captivity and released back into the wild — underway since 1996, the authors hope their new findings may help inform future conservation efforts, such as identifying areas where they can be released. But it's important not to jump to conclusions, Corti warned. Using such information for modern-day wildlife management requires a thorough understanding of species behavior, morphology, diet and other factors, he said. 'You can make a lot of mistakes' extrapolating historic observational data to inform future management decisions, he added. 'If you are trying to see what happened with the species in the past, you need to know what is going on now,' Corti said. Importantly, Mei noted, this study creates a link between endangered species and culture, which could attract public attention. If the Yangtze finless porpoise can be a flagship species, such as the panda, it will help improve their conservation, he said. Over the past few years, the porpoise population increased for the first time, thanks in part to conservation policies such as fishing bans. 'Conservation is not only (for) scientists,' Mei said. 'It's about everyone, it's about our culture.'
South China Morning Post
14-05-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Prestige vs progress: what stops China's researchers from chasing big new ideas?
When artificial intelligence (AI) researcher Shen left a lucrative job at a major tech firm three years ago to pursue his passion for research, he was unaware of the reality waiting for him in academia. Now, as an associate professor at an elite university in eastern China, Shen spends less than a third of his time on actual research, as other duties such as supervising student projects, keep cutting into time for his own projects. Young researchers like Shen are also under pressure to produce more immediate results, instead of pursuing bold, exploratory projects, because of a competitive tenure and funding system based on factors such as awards. 'I had expected connections and reputation to matter,' said Shen, whose grant applications have repeatedly fallen through. 'But they turned out to be even more important than I thought.' 'To pursue truly original ideas, you need to invest a huge amount of time and effort,' he said, declining to be identified by his full name. 'But because of these practical constraints, I don't really dare to go all in.' Shen's frustrations reflect a deeper concern.
