BBC finds electrocuted, drowned and starved cats in online torture groupsAn international network that shares online videos of cats and kittens being tortured has members in the UK, the BBC has found.
The network is thought to have thousands of members who post, share and sell graphic images and videos of cats being hurt and killed.
In one group, on an encrypted messaging app, the BBC found evidence of British members suggesting users adopt kittens from the RSPCA to mutilate.
The BBC investigation comes after two teenagers admitted torturing and killing two kittens in a park in Ruislip, north-west London, in May. They are due to be sentenced on Monday.
The 16-year-old girl, and boy, aged 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty after the kittens were found cut open and strung up. Knives, blowtorches and scissors were also found at the scene.
These groups started in China, but BBC News has identified members now active across the world, including in the UK.
The scale of the network has been documented by animal rights activists Feline Guardians.
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