When I broke the neck of my sick cat and then made a handbag of her skin, I honestly had no idea of what I had got myself into.

This is amazing.


So...

Back in 2004 Artist Tinkerbell wanted to make a statement.

Quote :

The project was an artwork entitled My dearest cat Pinkeltje, with which I wanted to launch a discussion about hypocrisy.

She bought a cat.

She then decided that the cat needed to die.

Quote :

Pinkeltje was a 'depressed cat' who couldnt be left at home alone.

Tinkerbell, apparently, didn't want to have the cat be treated in a pet care home, or be given to someone who could look after her 24/7. She loved her cat too much.

Quote :

I wanted to launch a discussion about hypocrisy.

She was also concerned about how painless the euthanasia process was that vets use. Rather than risk a potentially painful death, she read a book and decided to kill the cat herself, evidently believing that this was more humane and that reading a book would place her in a better position for killing her cat.

Quote :

I wanted to launch a discussion about hypocrisy.

Then she made a handbag out of it.

Quote :

We simultaneously keep animals both as part of our families and as a commodity to be consumed. We live in a culture where the origin of our food or clothing is seldom seen, and we hand our sick pets over to an expert to be given a lethal injection to end their suffering. Did you know that there is still disagreement about the so-called "painless" euthanasia performed by professional vets? People in rural areas – where they take such matters into their own hands – laugh at these tales from the city.

I have no idea what sort of statement she is making. Is she railing against using animals at fashion accessories? Is she making a point about her uncertainty over veterinary practices? (Which I personally don't buy for a second. Nor do I buy the "People in rural areas – where they take such matters into their own hands" line. I live in a village wedged in the middle of at least four farms. I know that whenever an animal needs putting down, it's a vet who does it. I'm not convinced things are different around Amsterdam.) Is it a statement over how we can't let go of emotional... stuff? I honestly don't understand it, and I'm a beard-scratching humanities student who wrote a fucking 3,000-word semantic deconstruction of a 7-minute clip from Scott Pilgrim.

But... It gets better.

Surprisingly enough - her act of pretty fucking blatant animal cruelty promoted a fairly strong E-mail response.

Quote :

Outcry from the online world followed. Blogs and activist sites published stories about the "atrocity" I had committed. Chain mails rotated: "A sick woman has murdered her cat as art and the bitch must die. Do not look at her website because she earns money on that." To them, the fact that I had also made a purse out of her skin showed my disrespect towards the animal kingdom all the more. In a matter of days, my mailbox was flooded with violent threats and death wishes.

While I'm certainly not in favour of sending death-threats or other e-mail abuse I find it hard to believe Tinkerbell's statement that she didn't realise the sort of response that would be provoked by the act she'd performed. In fact, considering what came next, I'm pretty certain she's flat out trolling.

Quote :

I decided those threats had to be turned into a book.

The book is not just a collection of abusive E-mails, however...

Quote :

For almost a year, the editor Coralie Vogelaar studied the contents of my mailbox and researched the writers' identities online.

[...]

We published not only the hate mails, but also all the information we found on the Facebook profiles, Amazon wish lists, and YouTube accounts that were linked to the email addresses.

[...]

Publishing their details was a way to bring them to account: you want me dead, but who are you anyway? It also allowed for the concept of anonymity – something most web users take for granted – to be discussed. How public is your online information and how much harm can an online diary do when the whole world has access to your personal life?

Wow.

Quote :

For me, those are important questions that should be given attention to in primary school. I would call the class "Web ethics and a guide to privacy" – and maybe add a little decency to the mix.

I submit this disingenuous, trolling shit to the house.

[Cuddles his own cat protectively.]

This woman sounds like an absolute monster!

Wait, did a woman who decided to kill her cat and used the skin to make a handbag actually just imply she could teach others about decency?


I can't stand people making death threats, as I'm sure is painfully obvious from some of my posts in other topics, but I highly doubt that publishing the Facebook accounts, Amazon wishlists, and youtube accounts associated with the email accounts of those who issued those threats will actually help the problem much.

knightwithoutacause wrote:

Wait, did a woman who decided to kill her cat and used the skin to make a handbag actually just imply she could teach others about decency?

Well, don't forget:

Quote :

I wanted to launch a discussion about hypocrisy.

WD40 wrote:

Well, don't forget:

Quote :

I wanted to launch a discussion about hypocrisy.

I just head-catted at that. I don't have a desk, and my cat was in my lap so my head hit his back.

This person definitely has the hypocrisy, perhaps to fill in the place where a soul should be.

Ehem.

I can sorta see where she's coming from with regard to the somewhat arbitrary hierarchy of animals we have - it's okay to wear a leather jacket BUT A CAT PURSE THE OUTRAGE. Buuuuuut she had to know people would go apeshit about this. And I'm pretty sure she went with DIY euthanasia/taxidermy (if she really did it herself) for maximum outrage. Would anyone bat an eyelid if she had the cat put down by a vet and then made into a handbag? So no points for her for crying SEE, SEE WHAT THE INTERNET HATH DONE, I SHALL NAME AND SHAME ALL YOU FUCKERS BECAUSE I'M DECENT PEOPLES.

Cyberwulf wrote:

Would anyone bat an eyelid if she had the cat put down by a vet and then made into a handbag?

Yes, probably. IIRC using cat skin/fur to make stuff out of is actually illegal in the US and Australia. I have no idea what the difference is between a cat and a rabbit that makes one ok to skin and the other not, however.

You are right though; if she had a point to be made she srsly effed it up on execution.

ETA: On second thought it might just be selling cat fur that is illegal. I am not really sure.

Cyberwulf wrote:

somewhat arbitrary hierarchy of animals we have - it's okay to wear a leather jacket BUT A CAT PURSE THE OUTRAGE.

Getting a bit off-topic, but: that always rubs me the wrong way. Why is it okay to eat pigs but eating dogs makes you a godless savage? Both are capable of forming loyal relationships with humans and share your house as clean and affectionate pets, even. If we can wear wool, why is a scarf made from cat hair creepy and crazy?

Quote :

Why is it okay to eat pigs but eating dogs makes you a godless savage? Both are capable of forming loyal relationships with humans and share your house as clean and affectionate pets, even. If we can wear wool, why is a scarf made from cat hair creepy and crazy?

I dunno. Why can't I find some nice crickets or frogs legs to eat anywhere in America? Because those things are fucking delicious but when I tell people they're fucking delicious they just look at me like I said their 4-year old sister is hot...

Mr.Doobie wrote:

Quote :

Why is it okay to eat pigs but eating dogs makes you a godless savage? Both are capable of forming loyal relationships with humans and share your house as clean and affectionate pets, even. If we can wear wool, why is a scarf made from cat hair creepy and crazy?

I dunno. Why can't I find some nice crickets or frogs legs to eat anywhere in America? Because those things are fucking delicious but when I tell people they're fucking delicious they just look at me like I said their 4-year old sister is hot...

A local AM/PM sells crickets with the other snacks, and you can sometimes find frog legs at French restaurants.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

I dunno. Why can't I find some nice crickets or frogs legs to eat anywhere in America?

Ah, see, but you could draw some imaginary line there- as in, "I eat mammals but not insects". What gets me is the mindset that eating [mammal] is morally superior to eating [other mammal].

It takes... I dunno, some mild form of sociopathy to not anticipate that this was going to stir up shit. To try and justify her actions on a rational basis (a cat is a mammal; a cow is a mammal; therefore a cat's skin can be treated like a cow's skin) does not fly, because social conventions are all but rational or logical. Shrimps and scorpions are just as closely related as fish and cattle, but as Mr.Doobie can testify, crickets are not accepted for human consumption in Western culture (I can be rational about this - I'd hate to eat crickets, but I also dislike those small shrimps that you eat whole with shell and legs, eyes and antennas - I don't like the crunchy buggers. Frogs, on the other hand, taste like chicken).
Snapping the neck is considered a humane death for lab rats - hold them by the tail, get close to the lab basin's edge, swing the rat so that the nape of the neck hits the basin. Dead on the spot. I don't know how this woman did her cat, however - she probably choked it like a chicken, the idiot.

grmblfjx wrote:

Why is it okay to eat pigs but eating dogs makes you a godless savage?

Because as I was taught by a friend while all sort of pork delicacies were sizzling on the barbecue, you don't eat the pig - you worship him. The pig is a minor deity capable of transfroming your base offerings of corn and potato fodder into tender rosy meat, precious fatback, tasty ribs and loins. The flesh of the pig is not just food, it is the reward of the faithful. The pig gives and gives; he dies for our dinners; he teaches parsimony, for nothing goes wasted; he teaches you patience, for months can pass before a ham is properly seasoned; he teaches you ingenuity and tidyness, for the meat of the pig which was on the outside goes into the gut of the pig which was on the inside, and the liver goes into the heartstring. This is the Way of the Pig, always blessed may be his loins.
What is a dog in comparison? A disloyal, obscene beast which will try and get onto your bed with its muddy paws and sniff your crotch in front of guests, and has no place on the table of gentlemen.

The only thing which bothered me here is the fact that she stated she killed the cat herself. IDGAF if people eat cats or dogs or wear their skins as hats.

The Unoriginal wrote:

the Way of the Pig

That's amazing.