Skinning cats for pelts

[snopes]

Comment: Umm I just found a really disturbing series of images, and I'm wondering if it is actually real...

Because I know that's a crime in North America, but maybe not where the person did it, but it is still pretty darn wrong.

Just wondering if it's real or not.

Link of site where I found it: http://darkmonkey.org.uk/4/Main/745

Not sure where the "tail" is coming from (it's not even the same color as the cat in the first pic). It is clearly, to me anyway, a rabbit being skinned.

[lynnejanet]

I've skinned a lot of rabbits (really, I have) and that's clearly a rabbit carcass that she is skinning. You can see the bunny's hind feet in a couple of the shots, and they don't look anything like cat feet. The tail has been added in for effect.

I'm not sure about the origin of the pelt in the last shot, though. It doesn't look like a rabbit pelt. Rabbits do have an agouti pattern, but not generally with the dark strip down the spine, or the stripes. I haven't been immersed in the rabbit world in a long time, though, so it's possible that such a colour pattern has been developed.

My guess is that she bought a cat pelt, and maybe the purse, in Asia (where I understand they are available) and set up the rest of the photos.

[Eddylizard]

Is it a crime in North America?

AFAIK it is not a crime to kill your own pet here. It becomes a crime if you do it in an inhumane manner. If you kill it humanely or if it just dies, then you can use the remains in any manner you choose. Maybe restaurant use might be questionable, but as long as you declare it as what it is, and have the necessary licences to slaughter animals, I guess that's okay too.

Just to chuck another UL in here, I saw an exspose TV programme about 30 years ago where they were claiming that euthanised dogs and cats where the owner asked the vet to dispose of the creature were being sold on to the fur trade.

[WonkoTheSane]

I look at it as a pretty obvious spoof given the content of the rest of the site:



Wonko

[Morrigan]

The pelt might have come from a taxidermist.

I agree that the skinned animal was a rabbit, though. The feet were the wrong feet to belong to the cat.

Morrigan

[Joostik]

We've had this one before. It's about the Dutch artist Katinka van Bruggen, or Tinkebell, making a statement about fur and pets.

[Morrigan]

Can you find where we discussed it, Joostik?

Morrigan

[NeeCD]

Originally Posted by Morrigan

Can you find where we discussed it, Joostik?

Morrigan

I'm not Joostik (last I checked) but here's a link to the old thread:

http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/u.../t/001350.html


I can't see the OP link to see what the skin looks like (I'm at work and the site is blocked), but in response to lynnejanet's comment about pattern, could it be a dyed rabbit pelt? My mom had several rabbit pelts that were dyed in various cat-like patterns, and I could see them looking even more cat-like in a photograph.

[ParaDiddle]

I'm just curious to know if what my dad told me is true. Is there indeed more than one way to do it?

I ask purely for research puroposes, of course.

- P

[Morrigan]

Thanks, NeeCD.

According to the Archived board, it is a cat.

"It definitely shows a cat being skinned but, as I mentioned above, the Dutch article points out that the cats are already dead, the artist does not kill them.....she has told people that she broke the cats neck because it was pawing at the door too much.....from the articles I found, it appears that Tinkebell is a real artist in the Netherlands who really does shocking things in the name of art as a way to open discussion about touchy subjects. I didn't see anything to indicate she has any other cause than that, and it seems to be just her personal beliefs that drive it. She apparently really did skin a cat, but there is conflicting evidence that she killed it herself...."

ParaDiddle-if you go to the Archived Thread, there's several posts about the different ways to skin a cat...

Morrigan

[Izzy Quigley]

I find it odd how clean the pictures are. My grandfather is a trapper, and skinning a carcass is usually accompanied by a lot more blood than that. Also, I see virtually no fat on the animal in the pictures. (Granted, most of my experience with skinning happened in the winter when most animals have an extra layer of fat.)

[Rumiko]

Either way, cat or rabbit, the thought of making a purse out of a dear pet makes me sick.

[Malruhn]

I once helped the Father of an old girlfriend slaughter and skin about 1000 mink over a long weekend.

There wasn't more than about 16 ounces of blood total, considering ALL of the mink.

The necks were broken, they were left for a couple hours to cool a bit, then skinned. It was as humane as possible, and I'm glad I had the experience...

once.

I certainly wouldn't want to have to do it again.

[inkrose115]

I rememebr the old discussion, but this one has sparked some thing. Why does the cat look really like a rabbitin some of the pictures.

[llewtrah]

Borrow one live cat (preferably one that will wriggle, but not take offence to this experiment). Try to scruff it, not too hard. Feel how the cat wriggles around inside its own fur. Normally, cats don't have much fat and their fur is remarkably loosely connected to the flesh over much of the body (if you try to pill a cat, they seem to be attached to their fur only at the feet, nose and tail!!)

Llewtrah now lets go of experimental subject "Athena" (black, fluffy, wriggly moggy) and get out the box of cat treats

[Malruhn]

When I was in South Korea, I mentioned the lack of cats in the area to a native friend. He told me that, "If you cut off the head and tail, you can't tell it from a rabbit after it's been skinned." Yes, I know it's anecdotal, but I would tend to agree - as long as the feet weren't too closely inspected (the claws would be different!).