Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to frequently asked questions about Feline Guardians
Feline Guardians’ main focus is on abuse in China, because 90% of feline torture content originates from China. However, a secondary goal is to bring awareness to cat torture that is happening all over the world and spread online by people of many different nationalities. We’ve discovered and reported on online cat abuse communities in North America, South America, Asia, and Europe.
No. Our volunteers are required to follow strict ethical guidelines. We do not participate in “black hat hacking” or any other illegal methods to gather information on suspected abusers. The main goal of Feline Guardians is to spread awareness of this crisis, build law enforcement connections, and educate the general public. We do not act as vigilantes or the police. Any information we receive is passed on to the appropriate law enforcement agency. If you see anyone claiming to represent Feline Guardians who is engaging in unlawful activity, please contact us.
Please immediately report any abuse you see. If you know where the abuse is taking place, you can contact local law enforcement. If you do not know, you can report the abuse to us, and we will ensure the information is sent to the correct law enforcement agency. Any reports received by Feline Guardians are taken extremely seriously and immediately prioritized.
We ask that you never post online any data about the abusers, including the torture or the torturers online handles, group names, or websites, even if you are just trying to link to it to point out how horrible it is. Distributing abuse material, even if done in an attempt to stop abuse, is not only illegal but can actually help promote the abuse. You can responsibly report the data to registered charities like the RSPCA, Feline Guardians or others.
Never engage with the people sharing torture. Speaking with abusers, and especially showing anger towards them, only fuels their behavior because they thrive off of the attention. Please also don’t encourage people to harass abusers.
It is best that “undercover” work is handled by professionals who are trained to ethically and effectively conduct investigations with proper supervision.
Absolutely not. Feline Guardians is not anti-China. Many of our best volunteers and supporters are of Chinese heritage and work passionately to end feline abuse. We advocate for stronger animal protection laws in China while recognizing the vast majority of Chinese people are against animal abuse. The actions of Chinese abusers do not reflect Chinese people and culture as a whole. We strictly prohibit racist and anti-China language in our community.
Furthermore, we rely on the support of our courageous Chinese volunteers who are working hard to stop cat torture.
The goal of Feline Guardians is to educate the general public about the cat torture crisis. We do this through a variety of means including social media, in person events, partnerships with other welfare organizations, and traditional media stories.
Feline Guardians connects with law enforcement agencies around the world to pass data we’ve gathered that will assist in investigations. We’ve established partnerships with more than 30 law enforcement agencies and we’ve supplied data that has contributed to law enforcement investigations in at least 10 countries worldwide.
Finally, Feline Guardians works with lawmakers and policy experts to strengthen anti-cruelty laws worldwide
Feline Guardians does not act as police or vigilantes. We do not go “undercover” or perform direct investigations on suspected abusers. We recognize we do not have the legal authority nor the expertise to engage in this sensitive and dangerous work. In the past, Feline Guardians featured an abuser list. However, this is not something we currently do or will do in the future. Any information we receive about abusers will be passed to the appropriate law enforcement agency so a professional investigator can properly assess and address the situation. This is done to avoid the possibility of harming an active investigation or someone who has been mistakenly accused. We can and do report on alleged abusers who have been identified by law enforcement, major media, or other credible sources.