On X, a video has been circulating—along with the clearly visible faces of the four individuals involved—showing four Chinese elementary school-aged children laughing as they douse a mother dog with gasoline and set her on fire, killing her. The police and the online community have already taken action; it is safe to say that these children’s lives are effectively over.
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The pattern of animal abuse videos in China: widespread circulation followed by lenient penalties
The pattern seen here—where the posting of animal abuse footage on social media leads to the identification of the perpetrator and subsequent social repercussions—has occurred repeatedly in China. In 2023, a university student in Henan Province was expelled after posting a video of himself abusing a cat; that same year, a content creator with approximately 400,000 subscribers drew international condemnation for broadcasting the torture of a cat.
The persistence of such incidents stems from gaps in the legal system. China lacks a unified national law that directly penalizes the abuse of companion animals, such as dogs and cats. According to Chinese media, the dissemination of abuse footage can only be addressed under existing statutes—such as the Public Security Administration Punishments Law or the Law on the Protection of Minors—on the grounds that it disrupts social order. Furthermore, the age of criminal responsibility is generally 14; while a 2021 amendment introduced provisions for individuals aged 12 to 14, these apply only to severe cases of homicide or physical injury. In fact, in an incident that took place in Jieyang, Guangdong Province, where four boys under the age of 14 killed a mother dog, the youths faced neither criminal charges nor administrative penalties; instead, they were merely assigned to a vocational school for corrective education. Meanwhile, those who identify and expose the perpetrators online could potentially face legal liability themselves, under laws concerning the infringement of personal information or the crime of defamation.
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