Content and discourse analysis of cruelty towards stray dogs as presented in Chinese social media

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 analysing posts and user attitudes on China's Weibo and Baidu Tieba towards such kinds of media reports of stray dog cruelty, this paper attempts to answer what the differing outlooks are on cruelty to stray dogs in contemporary Mainland China. The purpose of this paper 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. This paper identifies several thematic demonstrations of cruelty and includes criticism/activism, compassion, and animosity. These themes are not limited, with some reports including aspects of several themes.