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January 26, 2009

"Save Our Cats From Fishermen" Might Be Fake, But It's Messed Up Either Way

thumbnail icon: "Save Our Cats From Fishermen" Might Be Fake, But It's Messed Up Either Way

This video/PSA, in which a Southern Gentleman purports to have seen "rich, white" fishermen use kittens and cats as shark and marlin bait in South America, is starting to get very viral (along with the website saveourcatsfromfishermen.com). To me, it seems fake, especially in light of PETA's recent "fish are sea-kittens" campaign as well as fishy past reports of similar practices, but the shivering, wet kittens, even if green-screened, are disturbing. So I'm just reporting on a viral video hysteria-trend, here -- please be warned that it's not a fun video. But when your Mom sends this to you next week you can be like "Yeah, welcome to January."

If this is real, it is, like many things, very messed up and sad. But let's not overreact and blame James Franco for his choice of tshirt in Pineapple Express. Speaking of tshirts, bizarre anti-cat fishing shirts are available on this organization's web site, where they promise "a portion of the net proceeds" will be donated to animal charities. A portion? How generous! Another reason to think this might be a sick joke. (Thanks, Bryant!)

Posted by Lindsay at 1:00 PM in ,
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11 Comments

dafs

I'm almost positive its fake. If you look real closely at the hooks when they're "in" the cat, they seem to be attached to a small harness. I'm not saying it isn't totally cruel to attach these cats to harnesses and force them to swim, but its not as horrible as it looks anyway.

Posted by: dafs profile link at 01/26/09 1:44 PM | Reply
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I hate everyone.

Posted by: j at 01/26/09 1:45 PM | Reply
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Mcluskyist

Well, this is obv. fake. Go to the website (a for-profit corporation; make checks payable c/o the UPS Store. WTF?) But why? This isn't funny and doesn't seem to even try. The reference to global warning on the website makes me think that this was dreamed up by some redneck to sell shirts to other rednecks who think everyone is "too PC" and that "caring about the earth is for fags" so they can wear the shirts ironically. The mascot's name is Mullet for fuck's sake. This is all very meta-... something.

Posted by: Mcluskyist profile link at 01/26/09 2:25 PM | Reply
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WTF WTF WTF!!!! I need some cute kitten video chasers before i jump out my window.

Posted by: meANDmy_mONKEY profile link at 01/26/09 2:29 PM | Reply
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Deezey

I get all the emails and newsletters from animal welfare groups like PETA, Humane Society, ASPCA, etc...and I've never heard about this. I highly doubt it's legit. People are pretty sick but not that sick.

Posted by: Deezey profile link at 01/26/09 2:49 PM | Reply
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TalbainJ

So goddamn fake. So goddamn fake. Horribly photoshopped/green-screened.

And fucked up, just because of the idea itself, and the offhand blame on global warming.

(What the eff was floating in the air behind the cat with the hook?)

Posted by: TalbainJ profile link at 01/26/09 3:58 PM | Reply
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Definitely fake. And because it's also atrocious (and stupid) and really badly made (it's no banzai kittens, that's for damn sure), I'll tell you exactly how I know. At 1:14 you see a gray square hovering above the baited cat's left ear. That is a tracking dot. When you're shooting greenscreen, you place dots on the screen so that you can track the green screen element's action against a background plate (in this case, the sky). Typically those dots get cropped out of the shot for the final product. Anyway, there you go. Fake kitten on a hook. Now we can all sleep tonight.

Also, that guy at 0:26 is your boyfriend.

Posted by: nathan at 01/26/09 7:56 PM | Reply
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french tickle

Clearly, it's not a green screen. It looks bule to me. And you can even see clouds in the sky

Posted by: Dream Fantasy profile link in reply to nathan's comment at 01/27/09 8:20 AM | Reply
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Nazhgalia

Clearly it's all an elaborate reference to that episode of Arrested Development where GOB tries to fish for the seal that got the taste for mammal blood with terminally ill cats and in which Maeby just starts lying for no reason. Because...that's way better than the alternative.

Posted by: Nazhgalia profile link at 01/26/09 9:45 PM | Reply
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Whoever made the video - I hope they burn in hell, fake or not fake.

Posted by: Amy at 01/28/09 11:47 PM | Reply
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WELL I THINK THIS IS FUCKED UP.....BUT I DONT THINK ITS REAL....THE CATS WOULD BE ACTINGS VERY VERY DIFFERENTLY IF HOOKS WERE RLLY IN THERE SKIN......I THINK WHO EVER CAME UP WITH THIS VIDEO IS A PIECE OF SHIT REAL OR NOT.....PERSONALLY IF I EVER SEEN SOMEONE HURT ANY ANIMAIL LIKE THAT I HONESTLY WOULD BE ENRAGED ENOUGH TO DO THE SAME THING TO THEM.....

Posted by: ceph westfelt at 01/29/09 1:46 AM | Reply
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