Over in the Pit, pldennison started a thread about this story, which purports to describe a controversy about a couple of artists who skinned a cat alive while videotaping it for an art exhibition. That’s about as Pit-worthy as a story can get.
In Great Debates, ladyfoxfyre started a discussion about whether skinning live cats on videotape is art.
All well and fine. But is it true? I searched around on the net for more than an hour last night and could find no confirmation whatsoever that there’s anything to the story. The “artists” were supposedly charged almost two months with an outrageous, disgusting act that should have the SPCA and PETA raising holy hell. But all I can find is that single article from the National Post. Even after it appeared there yesterday, the Associated Press still has not picked up on the story. My guess is they haven’t done so because it’s a hoax.
Look, CNN had a story this morning about an artist in Germany who pissed off a lot of animal rights folks when he dropped a cow that was already dead from a helicopter. This cat-skinning thing is far more outrageous, so it should be all over the news. It isn’t.
And with that, I hand it over to the Teeming Millions. Is this story true, or is it a hoax?
I know a lot of people don’t consider PETA the most reliable source, but this storyhas been on their action alerts section of the website for a little while (probably since the arrests on May 30th) with a photo of the cat from the video and the third, missing perpetrator.
The National Post story claims they were charged on May 30, almost two months ago, NutWrench.
FWIW, Al Zheimers in the Pit has linked to a column from today’s Toronto Sun that mentions the incident. However, columnists are not exactly known for their fact-checking, and there’s nothing there that really confirms anything, although the column claims the artists had tapes of other animals being skinned alive, including a pig, a fox, and an orangutan.
Yeah, right, a couple of art-school students are first able to obtain an orangutan, then are strong enough to hold it down while skinning it alive without having the ape remove their own appendages.
I also found this story on the Toronto Star web site. The gallery owned by Borins and Brown (friends of Jesse Powers) has received threats and been vandalized since being associated with Powers. The story also mentions that Powers was charged and police confiscated the video. It is possible that this is a hoax, but it seems like there are legal procedings going on in connection with the incident.
Anyone have a contact with the Toronto police department?
This story was originally covered in the Toronto and Edmonton Sun newspapers on June 1, 2001, with the headline “Cops find animal house of horrors; headless, skinned cat discovered in fridge.” On June 12, 2001, a followup story ran, headlined “Third suspect sought in animal torture.” Here is a link to the Sun search engines. I have no intention of paying $2.95 per article, but you can search for yourself.
The stories also ran over the wire of the Canadian Press, Canada’s national news agency, on those same dates, and in the National Post on those some dates.
Also, as noted in the spawning thread, my college had a similar incident occur about two years ago (though it was not videotaped), and I don’t think even the local newspaper picked that up. Because I know firsthand that it happened once, when a legitimite news source reports that it happened a second time, I’m willing to accept it.
(on a somewhat amusing note, the letter circulated by the administration accidentally described it as a “sensational collage” instead of “sensationalist.”)
I found the same Toronto Humane Cociety page after looking over the PETA link Peta provided, pl. It says the Metro Toronto Police are seeking public assistance, but I couldn’t find anything on the police web site about it. I’m trying to follow up on the other leads people have been providing, so I’ll report back if I find anything.
I spoke to Sergeant Jim Muscat in Corp Communication of the Toronto Police Service. He indicated the Police press release on the art student arrest was issued on June 11th. Sergeant Muscat promised to fax me a copy. I will let you know when I receive it.
When the photo scanner becomes available in our office, I will scan in the release and post it on my website. The Sergeant knew immediately which case I was referring to when I said that I was inquiring about the “art student arrested.” The release does not provide details about the nature of the crime, but does confirm these students were are arrested and are charged with cruelty to animals (a cat). It reads:
Nice job Peta Tzunami. I was also accused at the office of making up another of my “tall tales”. Please don’t forget to let us know when the document is posted at your website (of course I’ll check your website myself periodically.)
According to Peta’s link, the two men who were arrested were due to appear in court June 18 - this was a month ago! Was this just for the bail hearing? Is the trial date still pending?
I could really use some contact info for various agencies who could help to raise a stink about this and insist on the maximum possible punishment. I don’t know how the Canadian court system works - I assume they have the equivalent of a prosecuting District Attorney? Does anyone know who and how to contact this person? What about the newspapers?
As I mentioned in the Pit thread, I am forwarding this information on to various lists involving cat fanciers so that we can make as much public uproar as possible. Anybody have suggestions?
I think I’d be a little more comfortable if there were an “official” source saying they had the body of the cat.
Maybe it’s just the side of me that hopes no one is actually that cruel, but it occurs to me that if these guys faked the tape and consented to the arrest and otherwise made themselves look guilty in an attempt to create an uproar, it would be art, or at least public protest, aimed at exposing the hypocrasy of those who get in an uproar about this and not about the same thing occuring in, say, chicken factories.
