I just read and replied to an issue on animal rights and pointed out in my reply that there are worse issues in that area that should be focused on. In a rich and privilaged country, America, something sad and disgusting is being done to kittens, purely for "art" and decoration. In Asia, the practice of manipulating a type of tree by bondage from conception of the plant to make it grow into the form of a minature and charming tree has been around for thousands of years. Women used to(and still do?) practice disfiguring foot binding to make their feet smaller because they thought it attractive. I know trees are living, and it's done against their will, but i can't seem to feel so bad for them as i do for kittens, so i don't feel that the trees need to be focused on. The women bind themselves by their own will.
Here is the appauling thing: a semi-new version of this practice is becoming popular in America, brought over from Asia where they do this to kittens. When kittens are very small, they are forced into bottles and jars where they will live for the rest of their lives, being fed chemicals through tubes and growing into the shape of the bottle- for decoration!!!!!! Their feces are removed with tweezers and they can never wash themselves. I'm sorry to know it myself, but it's true and it's terrible, and if we are raising awareness about animal rights this must be brought up! If you don't believe me (i didn't believe the chain email when it went around) visit the site www.bonsaikitten.com. I wouldn't if i were you.

`~*Samantha*~`

send some hate mail to korith blaming him for me and maybe i'll think about not torturing everyone anymore...... or maybe if you don't i'll just get worse.

because he is mad at Korith. but i dont see why we have to suffer.

On a side note... why did you resurrect a two year-old thread?

*BUMP*

However,Fantasygurl,I just read a non-fiction book:Wild Swans,and it's not true that foot-binding was done out of the woman's free will.It was so ingrained in the Chinese culture that if a woman didn't have bound feet,she'd be "shamed",especially if she got married,when the husband's female relatives(his mother,I think)would raise the bride's hem and if her feet were more than 4" long,she'd throw down the skirt in contempt,"and stalk off,leaving the bride to the critical gaze of the wedding guests,who would stare at her feetand insultingly mutter their disdain."So the women really had very little choice.The author's grandmother had bound feet and the process went like this:her mother wound white cloth around her feet,turning all the toes except the big toe inwards and under the sole."Thenshe placed alarge stone on top to crush the arch."They had to repeat this process day and night for years.The damaged feet look horrendous-all "rotten flesh"so the men never saw naked feet.Luckily,by 1917 this practice was apparently
discontinued.

Lay off a bit. When I first heard about the Bonsai Kittens (long before this message board) I thought it was true. There are some twisted people with messed up ideas. You never know what they'll do.

Now whether or not she did it was still a stupid post. Besides would'nt common sense tell you it was a set-up ? I know I knew. Now stay out of what I got to say! I wasn't talking to you. If you couldn't tell.....I think you'll be able to now.

fantasygurl didn't even know it was fake Angelface!

but cmon....that was really dumb. Not to mention misleading. Geez....if my little cousin read something like that and went to that stupid site she'd freak! Next time save the really idiotic post for somewhere else.

You guys are realizing it IS NOT REAL, right? It doesn't give a great message to anyone, but it's just college kids who had a lot of extra time.

ugh!

how would they like to be stuffed in a bottle their whole life?!?!?!

GOODNESS!

they need something better to do with their time.

Well, the fact that they even do such a thing to poor little kittens is completely grotesque to me. But what really bugged me was the fact they were marketing to children on their website. That really erked me. There is nothing worse than promoting bad behavior to children.
I have nothing wrong with ancient practices, but if it involves disturbing the life of a living creature, then it should not be allowed.
Why would ANYONE want to buy such a thing?! That is just plain sick!!!

I'm SO happy this was just a stupid set up!! I read about it before a few months ago, and I was almost ready to destroy the web site and bomb whereever these people were located!! (good thing I have a lot of self-control and a strong conscience)
I love my cats (have practically 12!!). I love them as if they were my children, and if anyone ever hurts them intentionally, I would go absolutely berserk!!! Someone would have to hold me back from injuring anyone who hurts a poor little kitty... Why are cats always being hurt on TV in movies, anyway?? It's not funny, and it makes me sick...

madjill

Good thing that was just a hoax. When I first read an email about them I thought, "what type of sick person would want a cat-in-a-bottle?" People now a days do some pretty bizare things though, atleast we know something like that would not be accepted.

Thank God that was fake because i just looked at the website and was a little upset for a moment and then I read the other posts.

Good thing what Jules said is true, ZDnet proved it. Here's the URL: http://netscape.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/main/0,5594,2692699,00.html
Really good try fantasygurl, even when I knew it was a hoax, I was still outraged and almost sent them a nasty letter. Despite the fact that it is a hoax, these types of things are cruel and should be stopped, without violence, that makes it worse.

My town's radio (Nashville) looked all that up and researched it.. it was just a rumor started by college students and they made a website and even got kicked out of the class it was for. There are no such things as "Bonsai kittens" LOL sorry to bust your bubble.

katequigley~

Thx a lot, that's a big relief- i was just horrified. That's still sad that someone who is obviously smart enough 2 work w/ computers that well has nothing better 2 do. what a waste

`~*Samantha*~`

hey guys,
i was really worried about the bonsai kittens thing when i found out about a few weeks ago. i was telling my parents about it and they laughed! i thought they were being really horrible people until they told me they read about it in newsweek magazine. apparently these kids at standford university made the images using computer graphics programs. they have been apologizing to everyone who has gotten really upset about it. but there's no need to worry about it. kittens were never put into jars for decorations. just some stupid college guys making pictures because they have nothing better to do.