In 2020, Shandong University of Technology reported that student Fan had abused cats and posted or reposted other people’s cat-abuse videos online. The university expelled the student. Public sources have since cited the case as an early example of Chinese universities taking a stricter disciplinary stance toward animal abuse.

This archive does not repeat or spread details from abuse videos. When harm to animals is turned into footage and circulated online, the animals bear bodily pain while public space absorbs the spread of violent content. The school’s discipline mattered not only as punishment of one individual, but also as a signal to students: respect for life is a basic ethic, not a form of shock entertainment or group performance.

The case also shows that, in the absence of a unified anti-cruelty legal path, university discipline, public scrutiny, and platform governance often carry part of the response. But disciplinary action cannot replace institutional design. Animal-harm cases still need clearer mechanisms for investigation, evidence, penalties, and education.

This record does not use unverified injury-scene or victim-cat photographs. The images are real Shandong University of Technology campus context photographs, and captions state that they are not incident-scene or victim-cat images.

Sources and image note

• 中华人民共和国动物福利和权利条目：高校虐待动物处分案例
• 条目所引：北京日报客户端/首都教育 2024-04-10《因虐猫考研“落榜”，这个教育要跟上了》；其中回顾山东理工大学 2020 年通报范某某虐猫并发布、转发虐猫视频，予以退学。