Bonsai Kitten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bonsai Kitten is an internet hoax, which claimed to give instructions on how to grow kittens in bottles as a form of decoration, similar in fashion to a Bonsai tree. Soon after birth the kitten is supposedly placed in a glass container, allowing the kitten to grow to fill the vessel that contains it.
The kitten allegedly breathes through specially drilled holes in the glass and may be fed and expel waste through tubes, and their purpose is supposedly as an elaborate ornament, instead of a pet. Bonsai Kittens were first publicised on a how-to site called www.BonsaiKitten.com in 2000, though this domain no longer directs users to the site.
Contents |
[edit] The hoax
Despite a massive negative response and much belief otherwise, the entire site is an elaborate hoax by a group of MIT graduate students.
The site is in part a parody of the Japanese art of bonsai, but also resembles the mythical practice of comprachicos (in which the subjects are human). Any person with an understanding of felines, or indeed even a little common sense, knows that it is impossible for a kitten — let alone a cat — to survive such conditions, part of which call for sealing portions of the anatomy with superglue and inserting tubes to maintain the softness of the fur.
The hoax even went so far as to suggest you could buy required equipment via the website — this turned out to be entirely false, like the rest of the site. The hoaxer went so far as to create a falsified guestbook on the site, containing user responses, but checking these email addresses proves fruitless, as none of the users are real. Further support for the hoax came in the form of a falsified mailing list.
[edit] Reaction
A number of people fell for the hoax. Both those who were fooled, and those who felt that it was advocating animal cruelty, took the time to complain to animal welfare organizations about the site and to set up online petitions to have the site banned. Others, aware that the site was a hoax, believed that the site would encourage attempts to create a bonsai kitten and thus should be banned. The negative reaction caused web hosts to refuse the Bonsai Kitten site until it found a home at Rotten.com.
The site was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in February of 2001, and MIT was served with a subpoena, asking for "any and all subscriber information" of the website.
[edit] External links
- Bonsai Kittens - Snopes.com Urban Legends Reference Pages
- Yahoo Directory Urban Legends > Bonsai Kitten
- Happiness is a Rectilinear Kitten
- FBI Goes After Bonsaikitten.com (Wired News)
- Mirror with original Bonsai Kitten pages
