Vocational college female student kills and mutilates campus cat

Case Details
Screenshot of a post detailing the incident
Key Details
Location	Shanghai, China
Species Involved	Cats
Type of Abuse	Mutilation, killing, corpse disposal
Timeline
Date of Incident	August 2, 2025
Date Discovered	August 2, 2025
Date Closed	—
Status & Outcome
Case Status	Reported to the college; perpetrator identified
Perpetrator	Li You Yang (李佑扬)
Aftermath	Widespread online condemnation; perpetrator issued a public apology

Cat killer
Li You Yang, according to online sources
Name	Li You Yang (李佑扬)
Age	19 (at time of incident)
Occupation	Student
Known Identifiers	ID and Phone(s) on record
Status	Perpetrator
Involvement	Killed and mutilated a campus cat, then disposed of its body in a pond. She later confessed in detail in private chats and issued a public apology.
Punitive Measure	—

Xiaohongshu post by user 无语.

The Shanghai Donghai College cat killing incident was an animal abuse case that occurred on August 2, 2025, at the Shanghai Donghai College in China. A female student of the college, Li You Yang (李佑扬), killed and mutilated a well-known campus cat. The incident drew widespread attention after eyewitness accounts, the perpetrator's own detailed Weixin confession, and a subsequent public apology circulated online.

Incident

• Witness accounts posted by Xiaohongshu users
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On the night of August 2, 2025, at approximately 10:00 PM, two students witnessed a suspicious person kneeling in a corner near their dormitory. They saw what appeared to be a severed cat tail and realized the person was abusing a cat. Frightened, they alerted a security guard who had previously allowed the perpetrator onto campus, believing her to be a student. By the time the guards returned to the location, the person and the cat's body were gone, leaving only a pool of blood.

The perpetrator, Li You Yang, later confirmed in her own chats that she had killed the cat, nicknamed Xue Jie (学姐), by strangling it, then dismembered the corpse by cutting off its head, tail, and one ear. She disposed of the body parts in a small pond on campus. She also took photographs of the mutilated cat and shared them online.

Perpetrator and stated motives

• Anonymous death threats on Xiaohongshu against whistleblowers. Li was also revealed to have a violent and mentally unstable track record.
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The perpetrator was identified by multiple online sources as Li You Yang (李佑扬), a student in the 2402 Animation class of the Media College at Shanghai Donghai College. Her academic program was described as "高本贯通" (Gao-Ben Guantong, a vocational-to-bachelor's degree program).

Li You Yang provided several shifting and conflicting motives for her actions.

• Initial Excuse: Initially, she claimed to suffer from depression and other mental illnesses, stating the act was an impulsive result of an emotional breakdown.
• Attention-Seeking: In her private Weixin messages, she revealed a desire to provoke a reaction from others, stating, "I try to talk normally, no one cares. I try to post self-harm photos, no one cares... If I kill lots of cute little pets, will they still not care?"
• Homicidal Ideation: She made several disturbing statements, including asking, "Besides cats and dogs, what else can substitute for humans [to kill]?"
• Jealousy and Contempt: She expressed contempt for the well-fed campus cat, comparing it to "Shanghai people" or the "upper class," and questioned the fairness of its easy life compared to other stray cats.
• Lack of Animal Protection Laws: She repeatedly mentioned the lack of animal protection laws in China as a reason she would not face serious consequences.
• Dispute with Friends: In a later public apology, she attributed her breakdown to a dispute with a group of friends, claiming the act was an extreme attempt to get their attention and care.

Weixin confession

• Li You Yang's confessions on Weixin
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Following the incident on the night of August 2, Li You Yang sent a series of messages in a Weixin chat, providing a real-time confession and commentary on her actions. The following is a transcript of those messages.

Timestamp	Original Chinese Text	English Translation
Aug 2, 22:51:39	准备回家洗澡	Getting ready to go home and shower
Aug 2, 22:51:50	把猫尾巴猫耳朵也洗一下	Need to wash the cat tail and cat ears too
Aug 2, 22:52:09	手上有鱼摊味道	My hands smell like a fish stall
Aug 2, 22:58:55	纯战利品	Purely a trophy
Aug 2, 22:59:09	但是我想一下猫尾巴能不能搞一搞做一个挂件什么的	But I'm thinking if the cat tail can be made into a keychain or something
Aug 2, 23:00:23	血腥照片	Gory photo
Aug 2, 23:00:55	感觉是假的但是好看我喜欢	It feels fake but it looks good, I like it
Aug 2, 23:02:46	主要这种场合也很难得啊	The main thing is, an opportunity like this is very rare
Aug 2, 23:03:03	我是去找的东海的猫	I went looking for a Donghai cat
Aug 2, 23:03:15	那边猫又多又亲人	There are many cats there and they are friendly
Aug 2, 23:03:45	我刚菜鸟驿站那边她就主动靠靠过来了	She came up to me on her own when I was near the Cainiao post station
Aug 2, 23:04:00	跟保安确认，你是学生之后就随便放人走了	Confirmed with the security guard, once they know you're a student they just let you go
Aug 2, 23:05:37	我一直分不清学校里的猫	I can never tell the cats on campus apart
Aug 2, 23:06:24	还有学长呢	There's also "Xuezhang" (senior brother)
Aug 2, 23:07:19	但是猫一样	But the cats are the same
Aug 2, 23:07:24	我把头和尾巴和一只耳朵割掉	I cut off the head and the tail and one ear
Aug 2, 23:07:40	身体扔到水塘里	Threw the body in the pond
Aug 2, 23:08:48	头因为我尝试掏它的眼睛，但是被搅烂了	The head, because I tried to gouge its eyes, but they were mangled
Aug 2, 23:09:21	不好看，散发出臭味，也扔水塘了	It didn't look good and smelled bad, so I threw it in the pond too
Aug 2, 23:09:56	主要是那块地方没人	The main thing is, there's no one in that area
Aug 2, 23:09:57	而且	and
Aug 2, 23:10:13	其实在我蹲着割他的头的时候	Actually, while I was squatting and cutting its head
Aug 2, 23:10:20	旁边路过大概三个人	about three people walked by
Aug 2, 23:10:35	我以为他们至少会回头看，我问我在做什么	I thought they would at least look back and ask what I was doing
Aug 2, 23:10:58	但他们只是直地走过去了，不见了	But they just walked straight past and disappeared
Aug 2, 23:11:07	大学真有意思	University is so interesting
Aug 2, 23:11:46	它的眼眶太小了	Its eye sockets are too small
Aug 2, 23:12:11	根本没有刀能进去翻动的空间	There's simply no space for a knife to get in and move around
Aug 2, 23:12:33	流出来是黑色的	What flowed out was black
Aug 2, 23:14:24	而且我不相信中国人有这么多爱心	Besides, I don't believe Chinese people have this much compassion
Aug 2, 23:15:08	掐他的时候，我觉得非常有意思	When I was strangling it, I felt it was very interesting
Aug 2, 23:15:20	像一个洋娃娃	Like a doll
Aug 2, 23:15:33	慢慢不动了	It slowly stopped moving
Aug 2, 23:15:46	她还是像一个洋娃娃	It was still like a doll
Aug 2, 23:16:03	然后我基本只是测试刀有多锋利	And then I was basically just testing how sharp the knife is
Aug 2, 23:16:30	根本不像电影影视剧里的那样鲜血喷涌	It doesn't gush blood like in the movies at all
Aug 2, 23:16:54	说实话，我平静了很多	To be honest, I've calmed down a lot
Aug 2, 23:17:54	或许当我再次遇到这种让我极端崩溃的事情的时候	Perhaps when I again encounter something that makes me break down this extremely
Aug 2, 23:18:45	一是猫的毛，二只猫的皮神奇很厚	First the cat's fur, and second the cat's skin is surprisingly thick
Aug 2, 23:19:10	把刀戳在他的身体上，就像戳的抱枕上一样	Sticking the knife into its body is like poking a cushion
Aug 2, 23:20:13	你甚至只能扒开皮毛才能看见微微渗血的伤口	You can't even see a slightly bleeding wound until you part the fur
Timestamp unclear	因为中国没有动物保护法啊，朋友	Because China doesn't have animal protection laws, my friend
Aug 2, 23:29:38	能代替人的除了猫狗还有什么	Besides cats and dogs, what else can substitute for humans?
Aug 2, 23:32:21	结果是现实的杀戮几乎是无聊的	The result is that killing in reality is almost boring
Aug 2, 23:32:49	没有喷涌 没有四溅 没有一击致命的刀	No gushing, no splashing, no knife that kills in one blow
Aug 2, 23:33:13	不止，我猜	More than that, I guess
Aug 2, 23:33:15	就是	It's just
Aug 2, 23:33:20	太压抑了	too depressing
Aug 2, 23:34:04	我杀猫的时候脑子里只有猫，没有出现其他 任何东西	When I was killing the cat, my mind was only on the cat, nothing else appeared
Aug 3, 00:17:08	这就是友谊测验啦	This is the friendship test
Aug 3, 00:17:40	我已经迫不及待了😋	I can't wait anymore 😋
Aug 3, 00:19:04	我尝试正常的倾诉，没人在乎	I try to talk normally, no one cares
Aug 3, 00:19:16	我尝试发自残的照片，没人在乎	I try to post self-harm photos, no one cares
Timestamp unclear	如果那如果我杀了很多很多的可爱的小宠物	If, what if I kill lots and lots of cute little pets
Aug 3, 00:19:41	她们还会不在乎吗	will they still not care?
Aug 3, 00:33:40	真没认出来是学姐	I really didn't recognize it was "Xuejie"
Aug 3, 00:40:44	你不觉得和流浪动物建立起感情很蠢吗	Don't you think it's stupid to form bonds with stray animals?
Aug 3, 00:41:20	它就像猫里的上海人 或者说 高层	It's like the Shanghainese among cats, or rather, the upper class
Aug 3, 00:41:30	有吃有喝有伺候	Has food, has drink, is waited on
Aug 3, 00:41:59	那外面那些猫呢	Then what about the cats outside?
Aug 3, 00:42:29	活的那么艰难 最后以这种方式死去	Living such a hard life, only to die in this way
Aug 3, 00:42:39	不是更不公平吗	Isn't that even more unfair?
Aug 3, 00:44:35	我喜欢我的猫，我花大价钱供他生活，满足我的情绪价值	I love my cat, I spend a lot of money to support its life, to satisfy my emotional needs for value
Aug 3, 00:45:09	主人和家猫的平等交易的	It's an equal transaction between an owner and a pet cat
Aug 3, 00:45:19	流浪猫不是	Stray cats are not
Aug 3, 00:53:17	没什么愧疚	I don't feel much guilt
Aug 3, 01:05:05	这咋干涉啊😰	How can they interfere with this 😰
Aug 3, 01:06:49	😰我靠那我缺的奖学金这这块儿咋整	😰Fuck, so what am I going to do about the scholarship money I need?
Aug 3, 01:10:19	只是只野猫没什么吧	It's just a stray cat, it's not a big deal, right?
Aug 3, 01:10:32	中国又没动物保护法	Besides, China doesn't have animal protection laws
Aug 3, 01:11:36	简中网上的爱猫TV简直多的不能再多了	There are so many "Love Cat TV" channels on the simplified Chinese internet
Aug 3, 01:12:00	我也只是终于成为了芸芸众生中的一员	I've just finally become one of the nameless masses
Aug 3, 01:19:55	但也更不想让我虐待动物 对吧	But you also don't want me to abuse animals, right?
Aug 3, 01:22:36	但是她们的反应根本不够啊	But their reaction is not enough at all
Aug 3, 01:22:57	我该怎么样才能认她们把我当回事呢	How can I get them to take me seriously?
Aug 3, 01:25:40	我想看到其她两个人的反应会是怎么回事	I want to see how the other two will react
Aug 3, 01:30:50	我只是最近心情不好而已	I've just been in a bad mood recently

Aftermath and school response

The incident was first reported to a school counselor. However, according to a private message shared online, students had already reported concerns about a suspicious person to school teachers on the Friday before the killing, but were allegedly told only to "be careful" as the school would "increase security patrols." After the incident, user 小蝶 alleged that the school administration was actively managing public opinion and censoring comments online.

The event triggered significant fear and outrage. Many students and netizens expressed concerns that the perpetrator posed a threat to student safety, with some calling for her expulsion and for her parents to be notified for mandatory medical treatment. One commenter on Weibo suggested that the perpetrator's actions were indicative of narcissism and attention-seeking behavior rather than a genuine mental illness.

• Allegedly an apology offered by Li You Yang
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In the days following the incident, a lengthy public apology attributed to Li You Yang was circulated online. In the statement, she claimed her actions were an impulsive, out-of-control breakdown triggered by a decade-long friendship dispute, and that she was trying to get her friends' attention. She expressed deep remorse and guilt, stated that her parents had scheduled an appointment for her at a psychiatric hospital, and acknowledged that she deserved any potential academic or legal consequences, including a criminal record.

Victim

Pic of the cat named 学姐, from Weibo user 哪怕融化在蔚蓝也无法消弭的心音

The victim was an orange and white cat affectionately called "Xue Jie" (学姐), meaning "Senior Sister," by the students. The cat was described by multiple students and alumni on different platforms as being very docile, friendly, and comfortable with people, often seen sunbathing near the female student dormitory. According to one account, the cat had approached the perpetrator willingly because it was so trusting of humans. An August 5th comment on Xiaohongshu described the emotional impact on students, recalling how the cat was only palm-sized when first seen on campus and how her daughter, who had fed the cat treats in June, was "very, very sad" upon hearing the news.

A former student of the college expressing shock and sadness at the incident.

• Pics of 学姐 shared by netizens
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Additional Information

According to XiaoHongShu user 小蝶, Li Youyang had previously won a first prize in the Shanghai "Starlight" Skills Competition and was considered a key student potentially under the school's protection.

Li You Yang's prize record

Li You Yang has a Weixin account with the following details:

• Nickname: UWi1NOMYN4M3

Li You Yang's Weixin profile

She also has an Alipay account with the following details:

• Nickname: 竹仪·Listen

Li You Yang's Alipay profile

External links

• Orange white cat Xue Jie (学姐) video - Archive.org