One Month Later, We Are Still Fighting for Justice for Wang Wang
Today marks one month since Wang Wang, a gentle stray mother dog in Jieyang, Guangdong Province, China and her three newborn puppies were brutally tortured and killed.
According to information later circulated online, five minors were involved, including one who filmed what happened; the official notice identified four directly involved boys, all under the age of 14.
The videos and reports show that this was not a momentary outburst, and it cannot be dismissed as “children not knowing better.” It was prolonged, escalating cruelty.
Wang Wang's three puppies—barely old enough to open their eyes—were beaten to death. Wang Wang was restrained by the neck, repeatedly beaten, doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire, with eyes gouged out.
She was so sweet that she did not even try to attack them.
Even in her final moments, she reportedly struggled back toward her babies and used the last of her strength to lick their bleeding heads.
Meanwhile, the perpetrators filmed, laughed and cheered.
This was not ordinary childish misbehavior. It was the deliberate creation, observation and celebration of suffering. It challenged the most basic limits of human conscience.
What makes this even more unbearable is not only the cruelty itself, but the absence of clear, transparent and credible accountability.
Local authorities stated that the four directly involved boys had been sent to a specialized school for education. Yet the public has received little meaningful information about what intervention, psychological assessment or continued supervision actually followed. People familiar with the case said they were not sent to any "special school", and the authorities had never criticized such horrid behaviors. The parents and family of these perpetrators even threatened to kill more dogs and cats in response to online fury. And at least one father of the killers did kill more animals and brag about it.
China still lacks a nationwide anti-cruelty law specifically protecting companion animals such as dogs and cats. Existing laws cover wildlife, livestock and laboratory animals in different ways, but significant gaps remain when someone deliberately tortures an ordinary companion or stray animal.
This is not a debate about vegetarianism, and it is not about telling people what they may or may not eat.
It is about whether a society is willing to draw a basic legal line against deliberately torturing a sentient being for pleasure, entertainment, attention or online content.
Justice means establishing the truth, requiring serious psychological evaluation and long-term intervention, holding guardians accountable, preventing perpetrators from owning or accessing more animals, and creating laws with meaningful consequences and deterrence.
Because when children can torture defenseless lives while laughing—and the adults and institutions around them remain silent—the damage extends beyond the animals. It reaches the moral foundation of society itself.
Wang Wang never had a real home. She reportedly sheltered her puppies in a small hole, trying to keep them safe. She may never have known comfort or had a truly good meal.
But this Earth was her home too.
She and her babies harmed no one. They were simply trying to survive. Yet even that most basic right was denied to them.
Today, we remember Wang Wang and her three puppies.
We will continue to say their names. We will not allow them to become another horrific video that briefly circulates online and is then forgotten.
We must turn our grief into strength: continue speaking, advocate for China’s long-overdue animal anti-cruelty legislation, and work toward a society in which more animals like Wang Wang can live peacefully—and those who choose to harm defenseless lives know that there will be consequences.
Cruelty is not entertainment. Abuse is not freedom. Deliberately inflicting suffering must have consequences.
Justice for Wang Wang and her family.
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