People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ president Ingrid Newkirk was quoted in a Canadian newspaper about a topic which even this writer will stipulate that she is certainly an expert — hoaxes and disinformation about the treatment of animals.
The particular example at hand is an odd New Zealand book, Why Paint Cats: The ethics of feline aesthetics, which appears to be a more tasteful version of a Bonsai Kitten-style hoax. Rather than claiming to show people how to stuff kittens into bottles, Why Paint Cats claims to chronicle the art of painting picutres onto the rear ends of cats.
For example, the book claims that a New York stockbroker paid $16,000 to have an image of Charlie Chaplin painted onto his cat.
The author of the book insists that it is not a hoax, though the Ottawa Citizen noted that some of the groups and magazines cited in the book do not appear to exists.
Newkirk concurs, telling the Ottawa Citizen,
It’s so intricate [the supposed cat paintings]. It’s so detailed. I cannot imaigine that anyone could get even one cat, let alone all those cats who look quite happy and wonderful to stil still . . . it’s just not so
And if anyone knows about using images of animals that aren’t quite what they purport to be, certainly that person is Newkirk.
Source:
Flashy felines or a colourful hoax? Jennifer Morrison, The Ottawa Citizen, January 11, 2003.