A group of Chinese students creatively torturing a pig has prompted Internet outrage in China and a justification from the abusers.

Sorry, the boys say. It was just a "class experiment."

Photos gone viral in China show the boys strangling, drowning and stringing up multiple pigs from a pole. The students from Nanning city are reportedly studying at a special police prep school, according to the ChinaSmack site, which has translated coverage from the Chinese-language press.

"What's Wrong With Kids These Days?" read the headline of an article in the Chinese news site ifeng.com. The students, according to ifeng, claim to have conducted a "forensics class experiment undertaken by criminal investigation and special police students."