In a horrifying case of animal torture, two teenagers in the UK admitted in May to mutilating and killing kittens, reportedly using rope, a blowtorch, a knife, and scissors. As bad as that is, police are now investigating cat torture as a much larger issue, the BBC reports, pointing to online groups with thousands of members from around the world, who share and sell graphic images and videos of the abuse. The BBC penetrated one such group, hosted on an encrypted messaging app, in which members encouraged others to adopt kittens for torture from the UK's largest animal welfare charity, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Animal rights group Feline Guardians estimated a new video showing cat torture and execution was uploaded every 14 hours between May 2023 and May 2024. It's aware of two dozen active groups centered around cat torture, the largest of which counts more than 1,000 members. "The most active torturer is believed to have filmed the torture and killing of more than 200 cats," per the BBC.
A Feline Guardians volunteer who's spent time undercover in the groups says they represent the "depths of evil," with depictions of cats that are starved, drowned, and electrocuted. Some describe using electrocution to resuscitate a cat so it can be tortured further. The groups began in China, which has no laws in place to stop the abuse, the volunteer tells the BBC. "That means that abusers and torturers can effectively do what they want." That's not the case in the UK. The 17-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl who pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to cats in May are due to be sentenced Monday.
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