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The Kitten Killer of Hangzhou
Status: Real (unfortunately)
A series of pictures showing a woman crushing a kitten to death with her stiletto heels is causing an uproar over in China. The pictures first appeared on the internet and have recently been published by some Chinese newspapers. The woman in the photos has been dubbed the Kitten Killer of Hangzhou, because the background scene has been identified as Hangzhou. I've been able to locate four of the pictures in the series, but I think there are a few more (far more graphic) ones. Here are the ones I found (I don't have larger versions): |
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| Image 3 (possibly disturbing) |
Image 4 (possibly disturbing) |
The big question is: Who is this woman? One theory is that the images come from a Japanese shoe advertisement. Another theory identifies the kitten killer as a "37-year-old woman from Hubei province with the internet identity 'Gainmas.'" The London Telegraph elaborates:
She had registered a website in Hangzhou and - the ultimate evidence - had bought a pair of stilettoes on eBay last year. She was also registered with QQ, a popular Chinese message service, where she wrote of herself: "I furiously crush everything to do with you and me." Before her QQ address went dead, its owner had several conversations. In one, she is coy, saying "So what?" when asked if the pictures are of her, and then, when asked again, replying: "In theory." When confronted by a reporter, she became defensive, saying: "Suddenly hundreds of people are on my QQ and cursing me. What's the problem if I crush cats? It's a type of experience. You wouldn't understand."
The Telegraph goes on to note:
No one seems to have suggested the serious possibility that the photographs could be a hoax - created by picture-altering computer software. But in the face of tight control of self-expression, young Chinese are seeking wildly different forms of sensation or satire on the state of society.
Without having seen all the pictures (and better quality ones), it's hard to judge whether or not they're real. But it certainly seems like this has already become the Chinese version of Bonsai Kitten (with the added twist that it may be real... in which case it's definitely disgusting).
Update: A "Crush" video is circulating around (you can find links to it in the comments, if you're interested) that makes it pretty clear the woman really did step on a kitten. Also, an article in the Shanghai Daily reports that the lady, and the guy who produced the video, have been identified. The producer, who is a camera operator at a TV station, has apologized. However, the woman, who works as a nurse at a hospital, has disappeared, leading to concerns that kitten commandoes may have abducted her (or something along those lines).
Posted By: Alex | Date: Mon Mar 06, 2006 | Permalink |
Total Comments: 237
Category: Animals, Gross, Photos/Videos
Category: Animals, Gross, Photos/Videos
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
Page 2 of 12 pages < 1 2 3 4 > Last »
Please take the Snopes route and warn of graphic images before displaying them. Posting those like that was just cruel.
Posted by Doug Nelson on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 07:29 AM
"people are animals"
So why are you so upset when somebody behaves like one?! Its because its easier to be outraged about somthing you can't do anything about than to get worked up about something you can! It's not like you actually want to do anything, not when pretending you would makes you feel just as morally supereor.
Hey honey, screw the couch-potato moralizors; squash one for me!
Posted by HeartsAndMinds.Org on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:07 AM
So why are you so upset when somebody behaves like one?! Its because its easier to be outraged about somthing you can't do anything about than to get worked up about something you can! It's not like you actually want to do anything, not when pretending you would makes you feel just as morally supereor.
Hey honey, screw the couch-potato moralizors; squash one for me!
Posted by Unfairly Balanced in Earth on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:08 AM
Ow and btw she hates rabbits too:
http://msn.ynet.com/view.jsp?oid=7901465
Posted by Unfairly Balanced in Earth on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:12 AM
http://msn.ynet.com/view.jsp?oid=7901465
Okay, I replaced the two most disturbing images with links.
Posted by Alex in San Diego on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:24 AM
Thank you
Posted by Doug Nelson on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 08:35 AM
Damn, Oscar. Thanks for clearing it up, at least. That is one sick woman.
Posted by raoulduke on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 09:06 AM
Uh, HeartsandMinds, I don't know if you noticed or not, but the reason people are discussing animal abuse is because the story is about a kitten being crushed.
Now, if she had crushed a poverty stricken child with her heel, I'm sure people would be saying "Poor starving kid!"
Go pimp your site elsewhere.
Posted by Banana on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 10:22 AM
Now, if she had crushed a poverty stricken child with her heel, I'm sure people would be saying "Poor starving kid!"
Go pimp your site elsewhere.
Wow. Some people deserve to die. I hope this woman gets mauled by a tiger or something. It would serve her right.
Posted by Sakano in Ohio on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 10:38 AM
It's bad enough that someone would do a thing like that but 2 or more people making a video of it and posting it on the internet just leaves me speechless.
That video ranks right up there with footage of Nazis shooting people on the edge of an open pit.
Posted by Blondin on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 10:42 AM
That video ranks right up there with footage of Nazis shooting people on the edge of an open pit.
Odd to draw a moral equivalence between killing a cat and killing human beings. I try not to kill anything unnecessarily -- even ants on a sidewalk -- but I wouldn't think to equate, say, the poultry industry with the Holocaust, or a mouse-trap with a man-trap. Or crushing a kitten with mass murder of innocents at the side of a pit. They are just different.
Posted by Sam in Delaware on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 01:38 PM
Hearts & Minds, I know I said I would speak no further on this subject but I had to post a link for you.
A pet is a beloved part of your family, and as a Christian, you should do everything you can to guarantee that this valued member of your family receives the glorious eternal reward for which Christ gave His very life.
Posted by Chuck in Rhode Island on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 01:41 PM
A pet is a beloved part of your family, and as a Christian, you should do everything you can to guarantee that this valued member of your family receives the glorious eternal reward for which Christ gave His very life.
Well, Chuck, that's intelligent. But at least those parodied in this article in The Onion won't burn down businesses and embassies and threaten lives world-wide. So inadvertently you've provided us another lesson in the falsity of moral equivalence: rational people know that cartoons and satire do not warrant riot and destruction, and that the sick killing of a cat does not warrant death for the sicko. People who can't make these - er, simple - distinctions, are a threat to us all.
Posted by Sam in Delaware on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 02:14 PM
that is just awful, anything that lives have feelings too you know. The pain that kitten had to go through just sickens me
Posted by asdfgh on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 02:34 PM
I am so allergic to dead animals, it's not even funny. I'm not going to watch or view anything.
I do have to say, I like the Ads by Google on this page.
Posted by Maegan in Tampa, FL - USA on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 02:34 PM
I do have to say, I like the Ads by Google on this page.
um Sam, who is warranting burning down businesses, embassies or threatening lives worldwide? Sorry if I missed your point, perhaps you could reiterate it.
Posted by Chuck in Rhode Island on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 03:23 PM
Chuck, Sam is pointing out that the satire on Christians you posted (you did know it was satire, right?) is unlikely to illicit the same extreme response as the recent publication in Europe of cartoons mocking Islam.
Interestingly, the Bible says that God gave man dominion over all other beasts, and there's plenty in the OT about wringing their heads off and scattering their blood around to keep the average fur-fondler in apoplexy for months; it's the Koran that says that the other animals are people too.
This is a sick person doing a sick thing, but the backlash is disproportionate. Those people saying they could happily do the same to her, or kill her for it, or wishing her a similarly unpleasant death aren't any better.
Posted by David B. on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 03:47 PM
Interestingly, the Bible says that God gave man dominion over all other beasts, and there's plenty in the OT about wringing their heads off and scattering their blood around to keep the average fur-fondler in apoplexy for months; it's the Koran that says that the other animals are people too.
This is a sick person doing a sick thing, but the backlash is disproportionate. Those people saying they could happily do the same to her, or kill her for it, or wishing her a similarly unpleasant death aren't any better.
I don't see why people can't say they would kill her. It's not like anyone is going to go out to China and actually kill her...it's just a way of expressing anger.
I'm sure at one point or another, everyone has wished someone dead.
Posted by Sakano in Ohio on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 03:53 PM
I'm sure at one point or another, everyone has wished someone dead.
There once was a fellow named Chuck
With the seeming IQ of a cluck
Who perhaps played a game
With the object to flame
But was all logical thought sure to duck
Sorry, Chuck. Be more subtle in the next thread.
Posted by Sam in Delaware on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 03:55 PM
With the seeming IQ of a cluck
Who perhaps played a game
With the object to flame
But was all logical thought sure to duck
Sorry, Chuck. Be more subtle in the next thread.
I forget, didn't Starship Troopers have a scene where a group of kids stamped on a load of real cockroaches?
Posted by David B. on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 03:56 PM
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