Content and Discourse Analysis of Cruelty towards Stray Dogs as Presented in Chinese Social Media

What is it about?

After recent reports emerged of a third arson attack on stray dog kennels in China’s Shandong province, those who have shown both hostility towards and support for the dogs and others involved in this event on Chinese social media have appeared. By analyzing posts and user attitudes on China’s Weibo and Baidu Tieba towards such kinds of media reports of stray dog cruelty, this article answers what the differing outlooks are on cruelty to stray dogs in contemporary Mainland China. The purpose of this article is therefore to attempt to increase a deeper understanding of the portrayal and response to certain forms of misconduct to stray dogs in user-generated contents in social media today. Several thematic demonstrations of cruelty are identified, and criticism/activism, compassion, and animosity are included. These themes are not limited, with some reports including aspects of several themes.

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Why is it important?

This paper is one of the first of its kind to examine stray dog cruelty in contemporary mainland China in an academic context.