# Is this a real practice?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-practice/55366>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 21, 2001, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-practice/55366 "2001-02-21T19:07:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-practice/55366/1 "2001-02-21T19:07:21Z")

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[www.bonsaikitten.com](http://www.bonsaikitten.com)

Mods, if I’m violating any rule by posting that, I’m sorry and you can go ahead and remove it or whatever.

Anyway, a friend of mine said he thought this site was hilarious, he said that it isn’t real so it’s pretty funny. Usually I can spot satirical sites, but this one I’m not so sure about. I doubt that it’s real, or PETA would have a field day. If you are a big animal rights person, maybe you shouldn’t go to the site. So does anyone know if this is real? Please just tell me that it’s a “humorous” website that isn’t true at all.

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**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-practice/55366/2 "2001-02-21T19:29:43Z")

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Joke started by some MIT students. Hasn’t stopped animal rights activists from threatening them and attempting to shut them down. You’ll notice there isn’t anyplace to actually send money.

Also, you can subscribe to a mailing list and read all the hate mail they get each day.

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**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-practice/55366/3 "2001-02-21T20:01:59Z")

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[http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/outrage/bonsai.htm](http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/outrage/bonsai.htm)

Always a good idea to check snopes on these things.

The FBI has even gotten into the act, trying to shut down these guys. [Rotten.com](http://Rotten.com) gave them web space because they kept loseing providers due to all the complaints.