Amman — From scenes shared on social media platforms to incidents repeated in neighborhoods and residential areas, acts of violence against vulnerable creatures that cannot defend themselves emerge from time to time. Cats, in particular, sometimes become victims of violence, killing and mutilation, not because they pose a threat or cause harm, but simply because they are weaker than their abusers.
اضافة اعلان
Such scenes do not appear to be merely isolated behaviors, particularly when the matter goes beyond dealing with an animal that is harmful or dangerous to deliberately inflicting violence on it, or mutilating its body. Such acts are disturbing and shocking, raising questions that go beyond the fate of the animal to the person who chose to exert power over a creature unable to defend itself.
Incidents involving the abuse of cats shared on social media have not been isolated cases in Jordan. Several incidents in recent months have sparked widespread outrage, with some prompting intervention by security and judicial authorities.
In September 2026, a video circulated showing a person in a public street deliberately allowing two dogs in his possession to maul a kitten. The Public Security Directorate took action after the video was circulated, identifying and arresting the individual and launching an investigation ahead of referring him to the judiciary.
Months earlier, another case in Zarqa caused widespread shock after a video documenting the torture and killing of cats inside a home circulated online. The incident was described at the time as brutal after several tortured and mutilated cats were found at the location. The suspect was detained and referred to the judicial authorities amid calls for the law to be enforced and for greater protection of animals from such practices.
Psychological or behavioral problems
In September 2025, the issue returned to the spotlight in Irbid after a video emerged showing a young man torturing and killing several stray cats, along with images of sharp tools reportedly used in the attacks. The “Al-Rashid Suburb” case, involving the deaths of dozens of cats amid suspicions that they had been deliberately poisoned, also sparked widespread condemnation on social media.
Despite differences in their details, these incidents raise a question that goes beyond the cases themselves: What drives someone to deliberately inflict pain and harm on an animal that poses no threat to them? Could animal abuse in some cases indicate psychological or behavioral problems requiring assessment and intervention, or does it reflect shortcomings in upbringing, values and society’s approach to vulnerable creatures?
Dr. Walid Sarhan, a senior consultant in psychiatry, considers animal abuse, including the abuse of cats, a type of behavior that should be taken seriously. At the same time, he cautions against rushing to associate every case with a mental illness.
He explains that understanding such behavior requires considering the person’s age, the nature of the act, the extent to which it was deliberate and repeated, and the surrounding environment. “A person should not be diagnosed based on a circulating video, nor should everyone who harms an animal be considered mentally ill,” he said.
Sarhan explains that motives can vary from one case to another. They may be linked to anger, difficulty controlling emotions, an attempt to feel powerful or in control, imitation or peer pressure. In some children, there may also be limited awareness that animals experience pain. He stresses that these are possible factors, not a single explanation that applies to everyone, and that none of them justifies abuse.
When abuse becomes content that is filmed and shared
The behavior takes on another dimension when the act of abuse becomes filmed content that is circulated. Sarhan explains that filming and posting such material may, in some cases, be linked to a desire to gain views or approval from friends, boast about exerting control or provoke the public.
Reactions from viewers may also become a form of reward that encourages the behavior to be repeated. However, he stresses that “filming alone does not reveal the motive or prove the existence of a specific psychological disorder.”
He calls for reporting such content rather than widely resharing it, even when the intention is to condemn it, while retaining any material needed to document the incident for the relevant authorities.
The issue becomes more sensitive when children and adolescents are involved, Sarhan says. Animal abuse may be learned behavior resulting from watching adults or peers, and in some cases may warrant attention to the possibility that the child themselves is being exposed to violence or neglect.
The response should not be limited to blaming the child, but should also consider the home and school environment in which they were raised.
Sarhan stresses that the need for psychological assessment becomes more pressing when the abuse is deliberate or severe, is repeated despite guidance, is accompanied by planning, boasting or enjoyment of causing pain and a lack of remorse, or occurs alongside bullying, aggression toward others or vandalism.
Animal abuse may also be one manifestation of conduct disorder among children and adolescents, but diagnosing such a condition requires a comprehensive assessment of behavioral patterns and cannot be based on a single act.
Strength should be used for protection, not harm
Sarhan believes intervention should begin by stopping the abuse, protecting the animal and preventing the behavior from recurring. This should then be followed by understanding the underlying causes and addressing them through parental guidance, teaching children how to interact safely and compassionately with animals, developing empathy and anger-control skills, and addressing any psychological or family problems identified through assessment.
He stresses that “a child needs to understand that an animal’s pain is real, and that strength should be used for protection, not harm.”
He cautions that hitting and humiliating children may reproduce violence, whereas clear boundaries and age-appropriate accountability should be established, with treatment sought when necessary.
From a social perspective, sociologist Dr. Fadia Ibrahim says harmful behavior toward animals or any vulnerable creature is linked to educational, social and cultural dimensions. These begin with the family, which is the first institution in which a child’s value system develops and where they learn compassion, respect for others and responsibility.
She explains that children do not acquire behavior solely through direct instruction, but are also influenced by what they see around them.
“When a child grows up in an environment that respects living creatures and rejects harming them, they learn that strength does not mean control and that weakness does not justify abuse,” she says.
At the same time, Ibrahim warns against dismissing animal abuse or presenting it as “harmless fun,” or overlooking harmful behavior by children, because this may weaken their sense of responsibility toward the suffering of others.
A means of showing off or creating content
This role becomes particularly important during adolescence, when some behaviors may be influenced by the desire to assert oneself, gain peer acceptance or attract attention. Animal abuse may become a means of showing off or creating content that generates online engagement.
She says the problem lies not only in committing the act, but also in how those around the perpetrator respond to it. Repeatedly viewing scenes of cruelty and responding with laughter, admiration or resharing may make suffering more familiar and less likely to provoke condemnation, particularly among children and adolescents.
Addressing such behavior requires a balance between accountability and understanding its causes, while distinguishing between reckless behavior resulting from a lack of awareness and deliberate or repeated conduct that requires specialized educational and psychological intervention, without generalizing or stigmatizing children and adolescents.
Ibrahim does not place responsibility solely on families. She believes schools should promote a culture of kindness toward animals, empathy and responsibility, while the media have a responsibility to cover such incidents in a way that preserves the dignity of the affected creature, without turning scenes of abuse into entertainment or giving perpetrators additional publicity.
Social media platforms also have a role to play by limiting the circulation of content documenting abuse and encouraging users to report it rather than reshare it.
She notes that the way society treats vulnerable creatures can be an indicator of its level of empathy and social responsibility, because respect for life is part of the value system governing how people relate to others.
“A society that raises its children on compassion and teaches them that weakness is not a justification for harm lays the foundations for a culture that is more respectful, cohesive and humane,” she says.
Humanity is rooted in compassion
Alongside the psychological and social dimensions, Islam places compassion toward animals and the prohibition of harming them within a clear framework of values and religious rulings. Deliberately torturing or killing an animal without a legitimate reason is therefore considered religiously unacceptable.
Dr. Munther Zaytoun, a professor of Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic studies, says, “Harm is prohibited because every human being and every creature, whether an animal or otherwise, was not created in vain. God Almighty created people, animals and insects, and every creature has a purpose and a role that we may know or that may remain hidden from us.”
He points to examples from the Sunnah, including the story of the woman who entered Hell because of a cat she confined, neither feeding it nor allowing it to eat from the earth, contrasted with the account of a man who was rewarded for giving water to a dog suffering from thirst.
He believes that the way people treat animals reveals an aspect of their humanity. “Whoever dares to harm a living creature, whether a cat, dog or otherwise, has lost something of their humanity, because humanity is based on compassion and consideration for others,” he says.
He adds that taking animal abuse lightly amounts to disregarding God’s creation.
Distinguishing deliberate abuse from preventing harm
At the same time, Zaytoun distinguishes deliberate abuse from dealing with an animal that poses a genuine danger, describing the latter as an effort to prevent harm. He cites examples from the Sunnah permitting the killing of certain harmful animals, including scorpions, snakes and vicious dogs.
Zaytoun believes the issue intersects with upbringing, behavior, mental health, religious values and society’s approach to violence. An act that begins by targeting a creature unable to defend itself raises a broader question about the meaning of strength and the limits of its use, and whether society teaches its children that vulnerable beings need protection or whether they can become easy targets for showing off and violence.
In conclusion, Ibrahim stresses that “protecting animals is not a marginal issue or a social luxury, but part of teaching respect for life and building a person capable of recognizing the impact of their actions on others.”
Sarhan, meanwhile, says that “taking behavior seriously does not mean stigmatizing the person who commits it as having a psychological disorder, but rather understanding its causes and intervening when the situation requires it.”
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Taghrid Al-Saeidah
