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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonsai Kitten | 2/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonsai_Kitten | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:29:46.620421+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Animal cruelty accusations === Very shortly after the creation of the website, controversy arose surrounding the content. Many people believed that the site was serious, and wrote to various animal rights and welfare organizations pleading for investigations. Humane World for Animals (then the Humane Society of the United States) could not determine whether the site was a hoax or not, but called for its termination either way. Other animal advocacy groups did determine that the site was a hoax, but still demanded it be shut down for fear that it could encourage copycat violence. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it was "horrified" by the site, along with the larger trend of animal cruelty on the internet, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said that the joke was "inappropriate and certainly not funny", lamenting that it is legal to joke about animal cruelty. In early 2001, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals issued a subpoena to MIT for information on the site's owners. They also sent an armed investigator to the campus to gather information, as MSPCA is deputized under state law with arrest abilities. BonsaiKitten.com was the subject of spam email pleas. Said pleas often targeted non-English speakers, who spread them without fully understanding the text, further allowing misinformation to spread. The website itself received hate emails directly, which by February 2001 had reached the "tens of thousands". Some of the hate was racially motivated; one person wrote to Chang that "you are probably Chinese, the most perverse of the Asians". This was furthered by at least one of the aforementioned spam emails, which claimed that the site was run by "a Japanese" and that the kittens were a popular fashion accessory in Asia. Some of the site's defenders accused its critics of having double standards. Andrew Smith of The Register noted that Yahoo linked to and categorized multiple crush fetish websites, yet censored a discussion group about Bonsai Kitten. Chang also accused the media of "exploiting ‘distasteful’ subject matter in the guise of information and exploiting it as entertainment", saying that "lurid details of human fault and misery are published in the ‘mainstream’ media for exactly the same reason that certain people exchange this material informally-to titillate the viewer".
=== FBI investigation === In February 2001, after receiving numerous complaints, the Boston field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a grand jury subpoena to MIT concerning the site. The FBI cited a law signed by President Bill Clinton in 1999, prohibiting the possession of animal cruelty depictions commercially released across state lines, as the reason for the investigation. The investigation was praised by Humane World for Animals, but others criticized it. Defense attorney Harvey Silvergate believed that the FBI was motivated by a desire to rebrand their image in a more positive light, saying that "they massively run rampant over Americans' liberties but they want to be seen as nice fuzzy guys who want to protect kittens". Janelle Brown of Yahoo Internet Life viewed it as a free speech violation, writing that "the Bureau believes irony is illegal". Eventually, the FBI concluded that no actual cruelty to animals had taken place. This was not the only law enforcement investigation into the site. In August 2001, months after the FBI investigation, the Allegheny County district attorney's office received a complaint regarding the site, and launched an investigation that lasted for only a few minutes before the site was deemed a hoax.
=== Aftermath === Within a month of its creation, the site was picked up and dropped by eleven different servers. At least two internet service providers dropped the site after pressure from Humane World for Animals. The site was finally picked up by Rotten.com in March 2001, in a move that Chang believed benefitted both himself and Rotten in terms of publicity.
== Legacy == In 2021, artists Eva & Franco Mattes created a sculpture called Bonsai Kitten, depicting a taxidermy cat inside a glass jar, which drew inspiration from the hoax website. The hoax is also the namesake for the German rock band Bonsai Kitten.
== See also ==
BuyTigers.com, another hoax site involving alleged animal cruelty Chain letter, a method which helped to spread the hoax Comprachicos, an alleged practice performed on children similar to the bonsai kitten hoax Foot binding, a real practice that inspired the bonsai kitten hoax Impossible bottle, in which things apparently too large are fit into glass bottles Square watermelon, a real, similar method for growing watermelons
== References ==
== External links == www.bonsaikitten.com, archive of original site at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Bonsai Kittens - Snopes.com Urban Legends Reference Pages Yahoo Directory Urban Legends > Bonsai Kitten