thumb|A kitten in a glass jar, similar to how bonsai kittens are allegedly grown

BonsaiKitten.com was a hoax shock site that claimed to raise kittens in jars, so as to mold the bones of the kitten into the shape of the jar as the cat grows, similarly to a bonsai plant. It was launched in 2000 by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate student under the alias of Dr. Michael Wong Chang. Many people believed that the black comedy website was serious, and filed complaints to animal rights organizations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI and several other organizations, including Snopes.com and the Humane Society of the United States, debunked the concept of a "bonsai kitten".

The website's legacy remains as a notable example of a hoax site, and generated much discussion about Internet animal cruelty and the issue of free speech.

Site overview

thumb|Bonsai trees are the main inspiration for the hoax.

BonsaiKitten.com is dedicated to the "long lost art" of growing "bonsai kittens". The introduction on its homepage invokes orientalism as it describes how the West has long been captivated by the culture of the Far East, such as tattoos, martial arts, and miniature sculpture. It then claims that the concept of miniature sculpture has been famously applied to bonsai trees, it can also be applied to animals, hence its promotion of the bonsai kitten. From here, the visitor can click on a "Method" page, a "Gallery" page, a "Sales" page, and a "News" page. the "Sales" page, to allow for the purchase of live bonsai kittens and the supplies with which to make one's own, with no actual way to purchase either.

The site also featured a guestbook. A number of visitors left complaints about the site's content in the guestbook, though many comments were believed to be jokes. Later additions to the site included "research" indicating that cat litter causes brain damage. The website states that this enhances the bonsai kitten art form's practical value.

Website analysis

In the book Hippo Eats Dwarf, while discussing infamous hoax sites, author Alex Boese uses the site as an example of what he deemed "the gross-out hoax", a practical joke that is intended to disturb its victim. He writes that the site convinced so many people because disgusting things such as animal cruelty do exist, giving it "built-in credibility".

Some critics noted that in hindsight, an obvious sign that Bonsai Kitten was a hoax was that the site claimed to sell goods, namely live bonsai kittens and supplies for "growing" them, yet had no way to actually purchase the product.

History

thumb|[[Foot binding, a real-life practice that inspired the website]]

Conception

BonsaiKitten.com was created in December 2000 by a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was originally hosted on the university's server, on the student's on-campus computer.

The name "bonsai kitten" is a reference to the art of bonsai, in which trees are grown in small containers and groomed to be certain shapes. The idea of body modification through binding has real-life precedent as well. Bonsai Kitten's homepage also mentions foot binding, a real Chinese custom in which the feet of women were bound to appear more dainty, as an example of the Far East's tradition of sculpting living things. 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. 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.

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. Eventually, the FBI concluded that no actual cruelty to animals had taken place.

Aftermath

Within a month of its creation, the site was picked up and dropped by eleven different servers. 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

  • 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