Bonsai Kitten

Bonsai Kitten was a website built in December 2000 by an MIT graduate student known only as Dr. Michael Wong Chang. Featuring how-to instructions and photos of cute little kitties stuffed into glass bottles and having their assholes glued up, the resulting shit-storm caused v&s and still rages till this day.

	“	I really thought that the FBI had better things to do ... that's your tax dollars at work.	„
	—Dr. Michael Wong Chang

Details

The Process

Grow your very own Bonsai Kitten.

The site was first published on December 20, 2000. Obviously mocked up photos and equipment were presented in a semi professional fashion, but like most satire, it was lost on the stupid. Fake testimonials and instructions on how to stuff a kitten into a jar and keep it alive for a normal life span stirred up so much hippy rage that these viral emails made MIT cave to the growing controversy only 11 days later. The site jumped from server to server for a couple of weeks until finally settling on Rotten.com's server. Content was added to rub in the loudest complaints coming in via hate-mail and online petitions. Examples include adding a children's section after people started complaining that their kids wouldn't know it was fake.

	“	You are a sick son of a bitch. You are probably Chinese, the most perverse of the Asians.	„
	—Typical animal lover, not realizing Japanese are the most perverse Asians

Eventually, the FBI stepped in.

V& and aftermath

In February the FBI subpoenaed MIT for all information related to the site in an attempt to make the Internet serious business. The attempt was a fail since no laws were actually broken. Of course the law has never stopped crusaders from crusading before. As the debate turned to freedom of speech, animal activists claim that the site encourages animal cruelty, (OH NOES!), and there by doesn't qualify for the first amendment. The webmaster has set up a mailing list to broadcast hatemail to subscribers. Despite its old meme status, PETA still sends out online petitions to this day.

Some Bonsai Kitten fan art.

Rectilinear Bonsai Kitten plush toy for the kiddies!

External Links

• Petition haetmail comments.
• Wired article
• The Humane Society's statement on the issue.
• There are at... least... three bands named after this meme.

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