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Bonsai Kitten was a
BonsaiKitten.com was created in 2000 from–as it was later discovered–the servers at MIT. The website includes a description of the concept of growing Bonsai Kittens; a "Sales" page to allow for the purchase of Bonsai Kittens and the supplies with which to make one's own (with no actual way to purchase either); a page explaining the methodology in greater detail; and a gallery with pictures of kittens in jars, presented as real examples of the "lost art". Three of these images are intended to depict the process of creating a Bonsai Kitten within the first week. The page for the only example of a later-stage kitten states: "Due to the extreme body manipulations used in this example, and the high contrast between bodily fluids and white fur, the page /white.html may not be suitable for some visitors and requires special permission to view." Those who are still interested are directed to an email.
The spoof came to large-scale attention as Cruel.com's "cruel site of the day" for December 22, 2000, though it was significantly controversial and was quickly removed from Cruel.com. It was heavily condemned by individuals as well as animal rights organizations, and, despite the website's clear intentions as a joke were pointed out, many stated that even if Bonsai Kitten was a spoof it should still be removed as it "encourages animal cruelty".
Initial humane society statements decrying the website as "encouraging abuse" caused local investigation, along with an
''Bonsai Kitten''
(2021) depicting a taxidermy cat inside a glass jar, which drew inspiration from the hoax website.
www.bonsaikitten.com
archive of original site at the
Bonsai Kittens - Snopes.com Urban Legends Reference Pages
Yahoo Directory Urban Legends > Bonsai Kitten
Internet memes introduced in 2000 Internet hoaxes Hoaxes in science Fiction about animal cruelty Urban legends Fictional companies Fictional cats American satirical websites Internet properties established in 2000 2000 hoaxes Cats in popular culture Photography forgeries Forgery controversies Shock sites Black comedy Internet memes about cats
hoax
A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible.
S ...
website that claimed to instruct readers how to raise a kitten in a jar, so as to mold the bones of the kitten into the shape of the jar as the cat grows in the same way as a bonsai
Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...
plant. It was made by an MIT student going by the alias of Dr. Michael Wong Chang. The website generated fury with many people taking it as serious and complaining to animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
organizations. The Michigan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) stated that, "while the site's content may be faked, the issue it is campaigning for may create violence towards animals". Although the website is now shut down, petitions
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...
are still circulated to shut down the site or complain to its ISP. The website has been debunked by several organizations including Snopes.com
''Snopes'' (), formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source ...
and the Humane Society of the United States.
History of the website
BonsaiKitten.com was created in 2000 from–as it was later discovered–the servers at MIT. The website includes a description of the concept of growing Bonsai Kittens; a "Sales" page to allow for the purchase of Bonsai Kittens and the supplies with which to make one's own (with no actual way to purchase either); a page explaining the methodology in greater detail; and a gallery with pictures of kittens in jars, presented as real examples of the "lost art". Three of these images are intended to depict the process of creating a Bonsai Kitten within the first week. The page for the only example of a later-stage kitten states: "Due to the extreme body manipulations used in this example, and the high contrast between bodily fluids and white fur, the page /white.html may not be suitable for some visitors and requires special permission to view." Those who are still interested are directed to an email.
The spoof came to large-scale attention as Cruel.com's "cruel site of the day" for December 22, 2000, though it was significantly controversial and was quickly removed from Cruel.com. It was heavily condemned by individuals as well as animal rights organizations, and, despite the website's clear intentions as a joke were pointed out, many stated that even if Bonsai Kitten was a spoof it should still be removed as it "encourages animal cruelty".
Initial humane society statements decrying the website as "encouraging abuse" caused local investigation, along with an FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
announcement that it was to investigate the hoax
A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible.
S ...
. The prosecution of the site by the FBI was welcomed by animal activists, but decried by web authorities. The FBI backed up its investigating of Bonsai Kitten by using a law signed by President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
in 1999 against the possession of "depiction of animal cruelty." The attacking of the BonsaiKitten.com website had the effect of displacing the website, which found a new ISP two more times, before being permanently hosted on Rotten.com servers. Because the website is still kept on some mirrors, it continues to receive complaints from animal activists.
The furor over the site triggered by animal rights organizations has been offset by their continued statements that the site itself is a fake. They have been stating this since 2001.
Groups such as the Animal Welfare Institute and the Humane Society of the United States received hundreds of complaints. Animal welfare groups declared the site as fake but stated they did believe it was potentially harmful. Other animal rights groups stated that the site creates an atmosphere of cruelty to animals. There is no evidence that the site was anything more than satire. Numerous authorities have advised people to stop sending complaint forms via email
Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...
.
The original BonsaiKitten.com is mirrored by many sites. The nature and presentation of the sites content is such that many animal rights activist
The animal rights movement, sometimes called the animal liberation, animal personhood, or animal advocacy movement, is a social movement that advocates an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, ...
s still take issue with the context of the website. Bonsai Kitten has been further updated from other servers, but infrequently and slowly, with recent additions to the site being research indicating that cat litter causes brain damage
Brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating trauma-induced damage.
A common ...
. The website states that this enhances the Bonsai Kitten art form's practical value.
The controversy started soon after the creation of the BonsaiKitten.com website. It was the object of numerous spam email pleas. These pleas relied on the audiences, often not knowing English, to spread them. Consequently, these petitions were often spread via the Internet in non-English-speaking countries. Blues News also provided a link, which was shortly thereafter removed from the site, as complaints against the website's existence and its content began to surface.
Concerns about the website
On October 30, 2000, BonsaiKitten.com was featured as a "Cruel Site of the Day" on the website Cruel.com. When this attracted complaints, Cruel.com removed its links to BonsaiKitten.com. Afterwards, however, when links to the BonsaiKitten.com website then spread across the world, many concerned animal lovers sent complaints to the Animal Welfare Institute and the Humane Society of the United States. Animal welfare groups made statements saying that bonsai kittens were not real. The URL drew criticism, which caused the initial host, MIT, to remove it.Offshoots
In 2021, artists '' Eva & Franco Mattes'' created a sculpture called Bonsai Kitten Eva & Franco Mattes''Bonsai Kitten''
(2021) depicting a taxidermy cat inside a glass jar, which drew inspiration from the hoax website.
See also
* BuyTigers.com * Chain letter * Comprachicos *Foot binding
Foot binding (), or footbinding, was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls to change their shape and size. Feet altered by foot binding were known as lotus feet and the shoes made for them were known as lotus ...
* Impossible bottle
* Square watermelon
References
{{ReflistExternal links
www.bonsaikitten.com
archive of original site at the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
.
Bonsai Kittens - Snopes.com Urban Legends Reference Pages
Yahoo Directory Urban Legends > Bonsai Kitten
Internet memes introduced in 2000 Internet hoaxes Hoaxes in science Fiction about animal cruelty Urban legends Fictional companies Fictional cats American satirical websites Internet properties established in 2000 2000 hoaxes Cats in popular culture Photography forgeries Forgery controversies Shock sites Black comedy Internet memes about cats