Bonsai Kittens-cruelty to kittens by rearing them in jars-Fiction!

Cruelty to Kittens by Rearing Them In Jars-Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:
This email says there is a Japanese man in New York stuffing kittens into bottles and rearing them so they'll take on the shape of the bottle. They are being called "bonsai" kittens and have become the rage in New York, China, Indonesia, and New Zealand. The email refers you to the website at www.bonsaikitten.com

The Truth
The bonsai kitten website is a hoax, created as a joke by some students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There are numerous published reports about the site, but one of the best is a article in USA Today from 2-20-2001by Janet Kornblum. According to Kornblum, the site was set up shortly after Christmas, 2000, satirize ''the human belief of nature as commodity." Kornblum interviewed one of the creaters who used an alias, "Dr. Michael Wong Chang." He said one of the main aims was to "punish the hypocritical and easily offended by upsetting them, and to amuse those who understand." The result has been an international outcry by animal rights groups who say that even if the site is a joke, they object to the fact that it displays and could provoke animal cruelty. In response to concerns from Internet readers, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals investigated the site and found no evidence of animal abuse. No kittens have actually been put through the torture described on the site. An FBI investigation was also opened.

For more information:

http://www.hsus.org/programs/companion/bonsai_kitten.html

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

Hi, friends:

to anyone that feel some love or respect for any form of life... What follows may be hard to believe. Please bear in mind that Dr. Mengele,the Nazi war criminal, once said: "The more we do, the less you seem to believe it".

There is a Japanese man living in New York that sells "BONSAI CATS".

The guy puts the kittens in glass bottle then puts a probe in their anus that gets out from a gap in the bottle to dispense their urine and faeces. For the kittens to take the bottle shape, they are fed with chemicals to melt the bones. Then he keeps the cats for as long as they can survive. They can't move, walk or clean up. He calls this "art".

This cruelty is the last fashion in NYC, China, Indonesia, New Zeland, because is a "decoration pet". If you want more information take a look in this site : http://www.bonsaikitten.com/bkmethod.html, and the babies into of a glass bottle in http://www.bonsaikitten.com/gray.html and http://www.bonsaikitten.com/bnw.html

We are making a list to sent to Animals Protection Association in USA and Mexico, and to TV news, to? stop this.

We call out to anybody that loves cats or just has basic respect for LIFE - please put your name in the end of this list, then forward this e-mail to anyone you can think of. If in the list you find more than 500 names, please send a copy to anacheca@hotmail.com We are very thankfull to your help and we ask you to send this e-mail.