In the video, a man stands on a balcony at night hitting a puppy as it lets out sharp shrieks. He gruffly carries the dog back inside by its neck.
The scene in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing was captured by a neighbor and posted on social media this month. The video prompted concerned residents to go to the man’s apartment, where they confronted him and rescued three abused puppies, according to videos posted on social media. Within days, hundreds of people had gathered outside his apartment, in a rare display of activism that resulted in violent clashes with the police, as the local authorities tried to suppress the demonstration.
The man, a 39-year-old surnamed Li, was detained, according to a statement by the police in Liangjiang New District, which added that he had adopted dogs under false pretenses and abused them, causing injury and even death.
Three dogs belonging to Mr. Li were sent to an animal shelter and a veterinary hospital, the local authorities said in a statement. One of them had several fractured bones, a severed tail and broken teeth, the puppy’s former owner, who helped rescue the dog, told Xinkuaibao, a local media outlet. The other two were severely malnourished and suffered from hypothermia, according to a social media post by the animal shelter Wangwang Home, which took the two dogs.
Because China does not have dedicated animal protection laws, the most serious charge Mr. Li could face would likely be for disrupting public order, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 days’ detention.
This is the latest case of animal abuse in China that has spurred citizen outrage and calls for laws prohibiting animal cruelty. The incident underscores how Chinese citizens, especially young people, are making demands of their leaders, even as the authorities repress civic activism by breaking up gatherings and censoring videos and online discussion.
Hundreds of residents, including some who had traveled from outside of Chongqing, staged a days-long sit-in outside of Mr. Li’s apartment.
The demonstrators — many of them young women, along with older residents and parents with children — held posters that read “Protect Animals” and “Stop Animal Abuse.” Supporters who could not attend in person sent food, water, stools to sit on, sleeping bags and dog food through delivery apps. Many brought their own pets to the site and shared stories about animal companionship. When Mr. Li’s apartment compound blocked more people from entering, demonstrators gathered across the street.
Run Gao, a Chongqing pet owner who joined the gathering, said he was “absolutely furious” after seeing videos of how Mr. Li treated his dogs. “I’ve never seen such scum,” he said by phone. “If this had happened to my cats and dog, I would have fought him to the death.”
“I didn’t do anything special, I just spoke up for these voiceless animals,” he said. “I hope that all living things can be treated equally.”
The authorities moved to break up the peaceful gathering. Videos showed women being shoved and pinned to the ground by the police. Witnesses said that more than 10 people were taken away.
After those clashes, the demonstrators began chanting at officials at the site, demanding the release of protesters who were taken away, and sang China’s national anthem. In the early hours of June 11, four days after the demonstration began, police removed the rest of the group, detaining more demonstrators and erecting metal barricades to seal off the sit-in area.
The case has continued to garner national attention, despite official efforts to suppress discussion of it. The original video of Mr. Li beating his dog has been deleted from social media, while videos and posts about the gathering have disappeared from the internet. A veterinary hospital that adopted the puppy with the broken bones and severed tail, and had been posting livestreams of its recovery, is no longer able to.
While several hashtags related to the incident were removed from the social media platform Weibo, one hashtag related to the suspect’s detention has attracted more than 67 million views, with many comments calling for Mr. Li’s punishment and for animal protection legislation.
Animal welfare advocates in China have pushed for legislation against abuse for more than a decade.
Economic considerations surrounding the animal farming industry remain the biggest obstacle to such laws, said Ying Xia, an assistant professor of law at the University of Hong Kong who has researched animal protection in China. “Stricter regulations would drive up their breeding and operating costs,” she added.
China’s livestock industry generated about 11 million jobs and more than $520 billion in output last year, according to government statistics.
Ms. Xia noted that animal protection cases that make their way through the legal system are typically argued by emphasizing the animals’ value to humans.
Over the past 15 years, the rise of pet ownership has shifted how many people view animals — from food or beasts of burden to companions, said Deborah Cao, a professor specializing in animal law at Griffith University in Australia. As China has become wealthier and as its middle class has expanded, concern for animal welfare has also increased.
In China’s first criminal case involving pet poisoning, a man was sentenced in 2025 to four years in prison for intentionally releasing hazardous substances after he left pesticides in public areas of a Beijing neighborhood, killing nine pet dogs and two stray cats.
The police recently opened a criminal investigation over a popular Border collie, which had 1.5 million online followers. The dog was abducted and later slaughtered for food, according to the police in Ningling County in Henan Province, where the dog and its owner lived. According to the owner, the police accepted the case on the basis that it qualified as theft due to the dog’s commercial value.
Some cities, including Chongqing, have local regulations prohibiting dog abuse, but they lack penalties and are rarely enforced. In April, a student in the southwestern city of Ganzhou was accused of skinning cats and harassing animal-welfare volunteers. He was later expelled by his university, but faced no further charges.
According to Diana Fu, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution who studies dissent in China, the protest in Chongqing was an example of a shift toward “post-material demands” — a departure from past protests that were traditionally about work, wages or livelihoods.
Participants who spoke to The New York Times and supporters on social media both emphasized that their gathering was “voluntary” and “unorganized.”
Dr. Fu said the demonstrators were likely aware of the government’s deep suspicion of coordinated civil society movements — a wariness that developed especially after the 1989 Tiananmen protests. Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing often blames social disturbances on Western forces manipulating Chinese citizens, she said.
“The last thing the animal-rights protesters want is to be labeled as being manipulated by external forces,” she said.
For many, the sit-in outside of Mr. Li’s apartment was the first time they had taken part in a civic action. Gloria Li, a local resident and volunteer who helps rescue stray animals, said she had never been involved in anything like the gathering before. She and other participants distributed food and drinks to demonstrators, as well as to residents living nearby, sanitation workers and security guards assigned to monitor the group.
When Ms. Li saw new participants standing timidly on the fringes of the crowd, she would approach them and point out stools for them to sit on.
“I know very well that this may lead nowhere, but I still feel that someone has to speak up and resist,” she said. “That’s how society becomes better.”
Vivian Wang contributed reporting.
