I'd like to apologise for wasting Indymedia's webspace and diminishing it's credibility (or maybe my own). I'm afraid I acted to soon, before I thought rationally. What I read and saw on the Bonsai Kitten website (www.bonsaikitten.com) so appauled and angered me that I posted the news on the Indymedia website before I investigated it further. Oh, and I`m glad I cheered up some people's day who laughed at my foolishness.
Although, I did receive an email from PETA saying
" Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting us about BonsaiKitten.com. We share your
disgust with this disturbing Web site and are extremely concerned about its
influence. We have received word that the FBI has decided to investigate
this web site. This has come as a direct result of calls and emails that
have been flooding their offices. Please let them know that you are
concerned as well. You can file a complaint at the following Web site:
www.ifccfbi.gov. This is a reporting center Web site set up by the Federal
Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for Internet fraud and other forms of
Internet crime.

Although we have found this site to be a "joke," we still feel it is
inappropriate and certainly not funny. The Humane Society of the United
States (HSUS) investigated the origin of the site and found that the name
and address under which the site is registered, a "Dr. Michael Wong in New
York," is false information. The site was reportedly created by a student at
M.I.T. as a joke among friends. When this site initially appeared in
December, a local humane organization did get involved on a local level in
checking out this person but discovered no evidence of actual animal abuse
having occurred. We believe that the Web site's creator was simply trying to
generate attention by upsetting people who care about animals.

So far, it has been an uphill battle, as the only law that even
remotely covers issues like this is a law that covers e-mailed obscenities;
therefore, if the site is not in violation of the host's user agreement, no
law is being violated, and the site can remain up. As you may know, this
site has been closed down several times before but continues to reappear
with different Web addresses. We are hopeful that with enough complaints
filed with the FBI, stressing the influence it may have on cases of actual
cruelty, it will be removed permanently.

While the cruelty depicted on this Web site is a sick joke, the
reality is that billions of animals suffer horrendously cramped conditions
in factory farms. Chickens, calves, and pigs are crammed into cages so small
they cannot turn or stretch. Veal calves ("byproducts" of the milk industry)
are chained in small crates for the duration of their short lives, chickens
are squeezed into cages with no more space than a folded newspaper, and
pregnant and nursing pigs are caged so they can barely move. For more
information about how animals suffer on factory farms, go to
 http://www.peta-online.org/mc/facts/fsveg3.html and
 http://www.meatstinks.com/.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us about this issue
and for all you do to help animals."

Sorry for wasting everyone's time. I suppose that I have learned to investigate these things further before I take action.


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