Bunny-crushing videos stir Chinese online anger

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Bunny-crushing videos stir Chinese online anger

Agence France-Presse – Thu, 25 Nov 8:22 AM EST

...A group of " crush fetishists " has caused an online storm in China after

uploading graphic videos showing attractive young Chinese women crushing small

rabbits.

In the widely circulated videos, several smiling women are seen in turn cuddling

and playing with small bunnies just before crushing them as other giggling girls

look on.

In one scene, a young woman places a bunny on a table before covering it with a

plate of glass and sitting on it for about a minute. She then lifts the glass up

to reveal the lifeless bunny, blood oozing from its snout.

Another of the girls dispatches one of the animals by crushing it under her high

heels.

Media reports said kittens were also among the animals abused in the videos,

although it was unclear whether the same group of girls was responsible for

their deaths.

The videos have sparked a heated response from web-users, who launched what is

known in China as a " flesh search " -- an effort to reveal the girls' true

identities.

" It is hard to imagine someone could be so perverted, " said one chatroom entry

on the popular portal NetEase.

" Flesh-search them! Uncover these rabbit abuse women and spit on them, " said

another.

Such online vigilantism has been effective in the past in exposing wrongdoing by

corrupt businessmen, officials, and others.

The searches have revealed that a user group of animal-crushing enthusiasts was

organising and financing the videos, according to media reports.

A purported apology by one of the girls was circulated online this week, but

many critics dismissed it as inauthentic and a bid by the fetish group to tamp

down the outrage.

China Radio International quoted one girl identified as Huang Xiaoxiao as saying

she had been paid to appear in several videos.

Payment started at 100 yuan (about 15 dollars) for crushing fruit, 200-300 yuan

for " other small animals " and up to 400 yuan for rabbits, she was quoted as

saying.

Animal crush videos are sold to fetishists in search of a sexual thrill. A bill

to crack down on such videos is about to be voted into law in the United States,

according to the US-based Humane Society.

China's censors have in recent years carried out a much-publicised crackdown on

what they say is a proliferation of porn and other online content they deem to

be socially undesirable.

China has the world's largest number of Internet users, with 420 million

according to the most recent Chinese count.