A new viral ‘trend’ is just guys launching their cats into the air and hurting them

People are always going to think that teens have literally lost it when a new trend emerges – even if it's as innocent as wearing silly bands or bonging Mountain Dew outside the post office.

But the latest teen trend – throwing cats into the air so hard they break their legs when they land – makes absolutely no sense unless you're fucking evil.

In the last week, a number of teen boys have been filmed doing this:

The 16-year-old from Ontario, California has not been named as he is a juvenile, but he has been arrested and charged with animal abuse.

The cat he threw, named Spots, survived the fall. Spots was photographed later with tiny casts on its two front paws – the impact of landing on the ground gave it a leg fracture.

A spate of other cases have emerged in the last week. Here's a high schooler chucking his cat over his fence:

This Twitter account has posted a load of videos that show cat abuse – all boys punting cats into the air.

You get the idea – it's a really disturbing new trend.

In a statement to babe, PETA said:

"Abusing animals and bragging about it on social media is a serious cause for concern. We're facing a bullying epidemic, and these kids' apparent lack of empathy shows why young people must be taught to respect others, no matter how different they are from us. PETA's humane education division, TeachKind, plans to offer classroom materials to help local schools teach kids that violence toward any living being is wrong."

@hshukman