The Kitten Killer of Hangzhou

Status: Real (unfortunately)
A series of pictures showing a woman crushing a kitten to death with her stiletto heels is causing an uproar over in China. The pictures first appeared on the internet and have recently been published by some Chinese newspapers. The woman in the photos has been dubbed the Kitten Killer of Hangzhou, because the background scene has been identified as Hangzhou. I've been able to locate four of the pictures in the series, but I think there are a few more (far more graphic) ones. Here are the ones I found (I don't have larger versions):

image image
Image 3
(possibly disturbing)
Image 4
(possibly disturbing)

The big question is: Who is this woman? One theory is that the images come from a Japanese shoe advertisement. Another theory identifies the kitten killer as a "37-year-old woman from Hubei province with the internet identity 'Gainmas.'" The London Telegraph elaborates:

She had registered a website in Hangzhou and - the ultimate evidence - had bought a pair of stilettoes on eBay last year. She was also registered with QQ, a popular Chinese message service, where she wrote of herself: "I furiously crush everything to do with you and me." Before her QQ address went dead, its owner had several conversations. In one, she is coy, saying "So what?" when asked if the pictures are of her, and then, when asked again, replying: "In theory." When confronted by a reporter, she became defensive, saying: "Suddenly hundreds of people are on my QQ and cursing me. What's the problem if I crush cats? It's a type of experience. You wouldn't understand."

The Telegraph goes on to note:

No one seems to have suggested the serious possibility that the photographs could be a hoax - created by picture-altering computer software. But in the face of tight control of self-expression, young Chinese are seeking wildly different forms of sensation or satire on the state of society.

Without having seen all the pictures (and better quality ones), it's hard to judge whether or not they're real. But it certainly seems like this has already become the Chinese version of Bonsai Kitten (with the added twist that it may be real... in which case it's definitely disgusting).

Update: A "Crush" video is circulating around (you can find links to it in the comments, if you're interested) that makes it pretty clear the woman really did step on a kitten. Also, an article in the Shanghai Daily reports that the lady, and the guy who produced the video, have been identified. The producer, who is a camera operator at a TV station, has apologized. However, the woman, who works as a nurse at a hospital, has disappeared, leading to concerns that kitten commandoes may have abducted her (or something along those lines).

Animals Gross Photos

Posted on Mon Mar 06, 2006



Comments

Odd to draw a moral equivalence between killing a cat and killing human beings. I try not to kill anything unnecessarily -- even ants on a sidewalk -- but I wouldn't think to equate, say, the poultry industry with the Holocaust, or a mouse-trap with a man-trap. Or crushing a kitten with mass murder of innocents at the side of a pit. They are just different.
Posted by Sam  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  02:38 PM
Hearts & Minds, I know I said I would speak no further on this subject but I had to post a link for you.
A pet is a beloved part of your family, and as a Christian, you should do everything you can to guarantee that this valued member of your family receives the glorious eternal reward for which Christ gave His very life.
Posted by Chuck  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  02:41 PM
Well, Chuck, that's intelligent. But at least those parodied in this article in The Onion won't burn down businesses and embassies and threaten lives world-wide. So inadvertently you've provided us another lesson in the falsity of moral equivalence: rational people know that cartoons and satire do not warrant riot and destruction, and that the sick killing of a cat does not warrant death for the sicko. People who can't make these - er, simple - distinctions, are a threat to us all.
Posted by Sam  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  03:14 PM
that is just awful, anything that lives have feelings too you know. The pain that kitten had to go through just sickens me
Posted by asdfgh  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  03:34 PM
I am so allergic to dead animals, it's not even funny. I'm not going to watch or view anything.

I do have to say, I like the Ads by Google on this page.
Posted by Maegan  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  03:34 PM
um Sam, who is warranting burning down businesses, embassies or threatening lives worldwide? Sorry if I missed your point, perhaps you could reiterate it.
Posted by Chuck  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  04:23 PM
Chuck, Sam is pointing out that the satire on Christians you posted (you did know it was satire, right?) is unlikely to illicit the same extreme response as the recent publication in Europe of cartoons mocking Islam.

Interestingly, the Bible says that God gave man dominion over all other beasts, and there's plenty in the OT about wringing their heads off and scattering their blood around to keep the average fur-fondler in apoplexy for months; it's the Koran that says that the other animals are people too.

This is a sick person doing a sick thing, but the backlash is disproportionate. Those people saying they could happily do the same to her, or kill her for it, or wishing her a similarly unpleasant death aren't any better.
Posted by David B.  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  04:47 PM
I don't see why people can't say they would kill her. It's not like anyone is going to go out to China and actually kill her...it's just a way of expressing anger.

I'm sure at one point or another, everyone has wished someone dead.
Posted by Sakano  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  04:53 PM
There once was a fellow named Chuck
With the seeming IQ of a cluck
Who perhaps played a game
With the object to flame
But was all logical thought sure to duck

Sorry, Chuck. Be more subtle in the next thread.
Posted by Sam  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  04:55 PM
I forget, didn't Starship Troopers have a scene where a group of kids stamped on a load of real cockroaches?
Posted by David B.  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  04:56 PM
I hate the proverb of an eye for an eye, but I don't think it's wrong to wish her an unpleasant death, provided it doesn't go beyond wishing.

On another note, violent cruelty isn't endemic just to humans. I remember hearing about a bored elephant who would leave trails of bread crumbs around and then try to smash the birds that ate them (so her keepers taught her to paint). Also, in young animals, seemingly pointless kills may be made for the animal to learn how to hunt, or simply for entainment. I know my cat shows no mercy to smaller animals.
Posted by Citizen Premier  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  04:58 PM
There once was a fellow named Chuck
With the seeming IQ of a cluck
Who perhaps played a game
With the object to flame
But was all logical thought sure to duck


wow, thats just pure poetry Sam...I will extend you a courtesy you have not extended me and will refrain from posting any ignorant comments about you. Although maybe you should take your own advice about being subtle.

And David, I understand what you are saying however, I never said anything about wishing the lady harm so I was not really sure why that comment was directed at me.
Posted by Chuck  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:04 PM
There once was a fellow named Chuck,
Who said, with the voice of a duck,
"I sure am-a spittin'
'Bout thet girl and her kitten,
But the rest of it, I don't give a f***!"

Now Sam was a poster quite rare,
And really he did seem to care
That people shouldn't fret
O'er some bint and her pet
While he wasn't getting his share!

But David's the lone voice of reason,
and truly a man for all season(s).
With a wit so sublime,
he's ne'er stuck for a rhyme.
Even though you all know he's just teasin'!
Posted by David B.  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:06 PM
>>I never said anything about wishing the lady harm so I was not really sure why that comment was directed at me.

What, mine or Sam's. In either case, I'd say that the comment was a response to your posts in the spirit of open discussion, this being a forum an' all. So, when you said "I will show you what it's like to have your head crushed under a boot." you were in fact volunteering to lie down and have someone stamp on your head for the purposes of demonstration. Wow, that's dedication!
Posted by David B.  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:15 PM
>>I don't think it's wrong to wish her an unpleasant death, provided it doesn't go beyond wishing.

So would it be wrong to feel enjoyment, vindication, 'justice had been done', or whatever if something unfortunate did happen to her?

Wouldn't that just be 'a wish come true'? Nothing to be ashamed of there, right?
Posted by David B.  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:28 PM
I can't say I would shed any tears if she was really mauled by a tiger, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Posted by Sakano  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:30 PM
[emBut David's the lone voice of reason,
and truly a man for all season(s).
With a wit so sublime,
he's ne'er stuck for a rhyme.
Even though you all know he's just teasin'!

ok, that was pretty good.

So, when you said "I will show you what it's like to have your head crushed under a boot." you were in fact volunteering to lie down and have someone stamp on your head for the purposes of demonstration. Wow, that's dedication!

damn you and your pedantry David! *shakes fist at David* and yes, I am being sarcastic.
Posted by Chuck  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:34 PM
i have to agree with you Chuck, that is tasteless not to mention cruel.

real or not, its still disturbing
Posted by Eva  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:36 PM
>>I can't say I would shed any tears if she was really mauled by a tiger, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

I doubt I'd shed any if you were, but not because of any personal antipathy.

I just have trouble with who's company "he/she/they got what was coming to them" puts you in with. It's what's behind those crowds you see celebrating the latest terrorist attrocity, and the lynch mobs, and fatwas.
Posted by David B.  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:44 PM
I doubt I'd shed any if you were, but not because of any personal antipathy.

I just have trouble with who's company "he/she/they got what was coming to them" puts you in with. It's what's behind those crowds you see celebrating the latest terrorist attrocity, and the lynch mobs, and fatwas.


Hm, sounds kind of hypocritcal to me.

Oh well. That's what you get when someone tries to lecture you on the internet. Save your moral superiority for someone who cares.
Posted by Sakano  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:49 PM
I'm not looking at the pictures, I can't. I hate cats with a passion, but still. Disturbing images are not my forte. *shudders*

Sure, it sounds weird from a person who loves 'silence of the lambs', but I hate animals dying, people are different. Death of one is a tradgedy, the death of a million is just a statistic. 😉
Posted by Dracul  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:54 PM
If a human were killed by an animal, the animal would more than likely be killed. I don't see why it shouldn't work the other way around.
Posted by Banana  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  05:57 PM
Anyhow, I'm taking myself out of this argument. I don't want to talk about this woman anymore. It's a waste of energy, and I just don't like to think about animals dying.
Posted by Sakano  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  06:31 PM
Let's get off the human vs animal thing for a moment and just look at this as a woman sick enough to do something like that to a helpless kitten, that means she is sick enough to use those great gams to put you in a John Bobbit scenario. Remember even Dahmer started with animals.
Posted by Lonewatchman  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  07:40 PM
I don't think this kind of thing is anything new. If my memory serves me well (which it doesn't always) I'm sure I remember reading an article on the net, more than a year ago, about a new fetish emerging of pretty girls in stilettos crushing small animals. Not sure if it was to turn on the girls themselves or others looking at the photos (or both?!).
Is my mind playing tricks or does that ring bells with anyone else?

Whatever, it's still makes my stomach turn.
Posted by Adriana  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  10:17 PM
Hmm, unfortunately it seems I am right. After a little research (not something I want to delve into too much though)I found there are many videos out there for sale for those into the 'crush' fetish. Here is a link to just one article about it http://www.dazereader.com/crushvideo.htm .

So, maybe not just ONE little kitten after all.
Posted by Adriana  on  Tue Mar 07, 2006  at  10:30 PM
Ugh.. yeah. 'crush' videos are nothing new.

As much as you'd like to think that this one woman is the only one out there doing this sort of thing, she's not even the tip of the iceberg. There are a LOT of very sick, twisted people out there, who get off on the most disturbing things imaginable. One of the things that pops up is women crushing small critters underfoot, usually while barefoot or wearing nice shoes - it seems to be a sub-genre of foot fetishism. Throw in an asian woman, and you have made some incredibly perverted people very, very happy.

Honestly, the fact that it's making the news tells me one thing: Slow News Day. There's no way this hasn't been brought to the attention of media outlets before, who probably said something like: 'This is something that will generate a tremendous amount of attention, shocking our viewers like nothing else. Since it's not going to vanish overnight, save it for when we need a boost in ratings'. Perhaps the Chinese, insulated from the rest of the Internet, actually haven't seen this sort of thing until now..
Posted by Bobcat  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  01:39 AM
Can
Posted by Unfairly Balanced  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  01:54 AM
>>I doubt I'd shed any if you were, but not because of any personal antipathy.

>Hm, sounds kind of hypocritcal to me.

No, just impersonal. You can read about one tragic death or another in just about any day's news, are you permanently in tears? I doubt it.

>I just don't like to think about animals dying.

Ah, but if they had killed other animals, they'd just be getting what's coming to them, right?

The 'moral superiority' here is putting one's own thoughts and actions out of reach of the criticism one directs at another. It's the "I know I'm right" and "I'm only saying/doing this for good reasons", and mostly the "but that's different" in every argument.

Is it the crushing of animals people are objecting to? Or just the fact that this animal is 'cute and fluffy', whereas that harmless house-spider they flattened last week was 'icky and horrible'?

Or is it the filming of it? Would it have been okay if done in private?

So what about bull-fights? Or hunting? What about animal testing? And slaughter-houses?

Unless everyone here improbably turns out to be a practising Jain, we all hurt animals on daily basis. But suddenly everyone is so damn sure that where they draw the line is in exactly the right place? Sorry, but I see the old, old story; a group of people gather to determine the moral high-ground and lo-and-behold if its not under their very feet!
Posted by David B.  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  04:15 AM
>Can
Posted by David B.  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  04:18 AM
Wow, three pages of comments and bad poetry, and still nobody has said it: Kitten Heels!

Sorry, but somebody has to make bad taste jokes around here and keep some sense of proportion.
Posted by Nightbringer  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  07:00 AM
Well said, David. I guess many of us are guilty of passing judgement on others.

"Odd to draw a moral equivalence between killing a cat and killing human beings. I try not to kill anything unnecessarily -- even ants on a sidewalk -- but I wouldn't think to equate, say, the poultry industry with the Holocaust, or a mouse-trap with a man-trap."

I don't equate killing animals with killing humans. It's the mindset that it takes to torture a helpless animal to death for pleasure (and film the act) that I find repugnant.
Posted by Blondin  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  07:19 AM
Too bad. She's kinda hot looking, I'd roll around a haystack with her.
Posted by Yar!  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  08:13 AM
This is exactly the same argument that comes up everytime these articles get posted. It was the same for the cat-purse lady, and even for the Send-me-a-buck-or-I'll-eat-the-bunny hoax. It's fascinating how it seems to flare anew up each time with no realization that it's all been said before. I guess every once in a while we need to vent our frustrations, then we can calm down for another six months or so until the next one.
Posted by Charybdis  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  09:10 AM
Torturing any living thing is immoral. Killing any living thing for no reason is also immoral. I say for no reason because I enjoy steak, and chicken, and lots of other things that I could not enjoy had a living organism not been killed. I resent however killing by torture and without reason, and resent even more making a public display of it for no apparent reason other than disturb other people.
Posted by StarLizard  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  10:45 AM
And Alex, thank you for removing those pictures. I'm glad I don't have to look at them every time I scroll down the page.
Posted by StarLizard  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  10:49 AM
"Ah, but if they had killed other animals, they'd just be getting what's coming to them, right?"

So you're saying that people should be killed to, because we kill other animals to eat right? And some even hunt for fun.

"Is it the crushing of animals people are objecting to? Or just the fact that this animal is 'cute and fluffy', whereas that harmless house-spider they flattened last week was 'icky and horrible'?"

This I must agree, I am against the killings of ANY lifeforms that is uncalled for. That's why whenever i see spiders/bugs in my house, i always set them free =)

God I hate bullfights and animal testing. I think if the purpose of that experiment is to benefit humans, then we should use humans to begin with.
As for slaughterhouses, I am not against the purpose of it (food) but I am certainly against the killing methods.
Food animals need to be treated better!! IF they are going to DIE for us, the least we can do is make sure they live nicely and die a peaceful death.
Posted by Yushi  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  12:32 PM
I agree with the fellow fom Quebeck Canada on this page.......
Posted by Jenny Maurer  on  Wed Mar 08, 2006  at  06:37 PM
>Torturing any living thing is immoral. Killing any living thing for no reason is also immoral. I say for no reason because I enjoy steak, and chicken, and lots of other things that I could not enjoy had a living organism not been killed.

So your justification for killing these animals is so that you can enjoy yourself?!

O-o-okay...
Posted by David B.  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  05:18 AM
Kill the babies! Save the whales! Let us abort our own children! Save the seals!

Todays word is "hypocrisy". Brought to you by the letters ACLU.
Posted by Get a clue  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  05:43 AM
>So you're saying that people should be killed to, because we kill other animals to eat right? And some even hunt for fun.

No, several posters have expressed a wish to do this woman harm, or that harm somehow comes upon her, and the justification has been that she would deserve her fate because of her actions. While you are quite right that a more consistent application of this rule would put a hell of a lot more people on God's 'do bad things to' list, I was actually extending their argument to other animals. If I mightn't approve of their actions is it okay to think they deserve their suffering?

>I think if the purpose of that experiment is to benefit humans, then we should use humans to begin with.

I think the number of volunteers for an LD50 test would be quite low unless people were forced to participate. We should use lawyers, that way no-one would mind any suffering.

>As for slaughterhouses, I am not against the purpose of it (food) but I am certainly against the killing methods.

I was a vegetarian (for dietary reasons; no meat, no fish, very occasional egg) for many years, and can quite attest to the fact that we don't need meat. That I'm not now is because it is very much easier to maintain a balanced diet if some meat is included in your diet.

I have also actually been round a slaughterhouse. Let's just say it is not a family day out. The actual killing was quick and (apparently) painless, but some animals were quite clearly distressed from the moment they entered the building up to the coo-de-gracey.

Imagine waking up one morning to find yourself tied to a chair. Suddenly a man with a revolver walks in, spins the barrel, points the gun at your head and... *click*. He walks out. Five minutes later he's back and does the same thing again. Then five minutes after that. Then five minutes after that. Soon he starts pulling the trigger twice, soon after three times, then *BANG*.

A bullet in the head is quick and painless. Thank God you didn't suffer.
Posted by David B.  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  05:49 AM
>Kill the babies! Save the whales! Let us abort our own children! Save the seals! Todays word is "hypocrisy". Brought to you by the letters ACLU.

The ACLU campaign to stop whale-hunting? Why?
Posted by David B.  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  05:53 AM
Because the whale's civil rights are being violated, David. Duh.

😉
Posted by Charybdis  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  08:37 AM
David B., what I'm saying is that I am not opposed to the killing of animals (or plants, for that matter...) if the intention is to eat and survive. It is the nature of things, and even animals kill other animals to survive. Yes, I have a choice, I could be a vegetarian, but I am not. What I'm trying to say is that I'm against the torture, and I'm against killing for no reason. Don't kill more than you can eat.

The only reason we're even having this argument is that our civilization can afford to treat and view animals like pets and friends. Do a little traveling and you will soon notice that animals in many countries are viewed and treated as tools, food and money. They are sometimes malnourished, badly treated and slaughtered in ways that would make your gun story look like a fairytale. We feel for the kitten because we might have one as a pet, a friend. To someone who can hardly feed their children, the kitten means nothing but one more mouth to feed. Is it ok to torture it? Of course not.

But if you're going to twist my argument to say that it's ok to kill animals so I can enjoy myself, I'll tell you that yes, I enjoy meat, I don't force myself to eat it and cry the whole time for the cow that was killed; mostly I am greatful for its life and the food it has provided, and I ensure it doesn't go to waste in the fridge.
Posted by StarLizard  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  08:46 AM
THIS IS the MOST DISGUSTING THING I VE EVER SEEN...and I ve really thought that I have seen it all. I feel an irresistible urge to puke on my laptop.

Question: did she sedate the cat before stepping on it? I mean: it doesn t seem to try to run away. Might it be possible that the cat wasn t alive (I don t see any movements of the cat that could not also have happened after it s death). The meeeeowww could be dubbed.

Anyway: I hope the kitten was dead before she stepped on it.

AEIOU

BTW: there was the story of that chinese guy eating a roasted baby, some time ago. A friend of mine, an artist from Berlin, was in China for 2 years in some kind of exchange program and showed me photos showing him on an exhibition where that "artist" exhibited dead babies and dead bodies. He said they definetly were real, not fake, and police came an hour after the opening of the "art show" to close that joint down ... nobody was arrested, though, as the laws don t explicitly forbid actions like this. I think there re strange things going on in china.
Posted by aeiou  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  10:57 AM
Stilettowned 🐛
Posted by wow  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  11:41 AM
>what I'm saying is that I am not opposed to the killing of animals [...] if the intention is to eat and survive.

You do not need to eat meat to survive, you choose to do so. Hence the 'reason' that makes killing animals moral (as in "killing any living thing for no reason is also immoral", remember) is so that you may eat them if you so choose. As you point out, there's a fair amount of cultural relativism (ack, I hate that phrase) going on here; like the eating of dogs and horses, some people cannot believe it is right even when they themselves eat cows and sheep.

You've picked a weak argument. The actual reasons to eat meat are slight, but we strongly desire to do so and accept the deaths of animals as a necessary part of the process. In essence, we are killing animals merely for our enjoyment, we just bury the resultant dissonance under the supersized side-order of fries and carry on. Do you really think people's reactions would have been different if this woman had skinned the kitten, pan-fried it with fresh shallots and eaten it with a chinese leaf salad?
Posted by David B.  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  03:36 PM
I hate vegans. You need protein to survive, and so that your muscles don't stop working. The reason people can talk about not killing animals is becuase they live in abundance, and because science provides them with fake protein. Bottom line, you need meat to survive, genius.
Posted by Fly  on  Thu Mar 09, 2006  at  07:11 PM
After a brief skim read of the thread most people in my opinion are missing the point things die everyday, right now things (animals, humans, plants) are dying, when you read this things are dying. The point, I think (IF it is real) is the cruelty. But regardless of if it is real or not to much stuff like this does happen everyday, People tortured, animals used for sport, etc. Cruelty for entertainment is WRONG!.
Posted by Iridium  on  Fri Mar 10, 2006  at  01:46 AM
<You've picked a weak argument. The actual reasons to eat meat are slight, but we strongly desire to do so and accept the deaths of animals as a necessary part of the process.>

Um...ok, so did it ever occur to you that the reason we strongly desire to eat meat is that it is natural for us to do so? The proteins we need to live a healthy life are found naturally in meat, and humans have been eating it since before they even understood the reason of its benefits. Nature intended for us to enjoy it, because we need it to survive.

Vegans choose not to eat meat and replace the much needed proteins with other things, but you'll have to agree that this process is much more complicated and thus not the natural way of doing things. I respect their choice and admire them for standing by their convictions; this doesn't mean however that I feel bad for not choosing to do the same thing.

I don't think my argument is weak, I think we both agree that we do not enjoy the torture of any animal, human or plant, and that we have different ideas on the moral issue of killing 'for a reason'.

Oh, and as for your last idea, if she had humanely killed the kitten before grilling it, I would not have been nearly as opposed to what she did as I am now.
Posted by StarLizard  on  Fri Mar 10, 2006  at  08:22 AM
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