The next issue of Posted Newsletter will soon be in your inbox. The image posted by the US-based organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Twitter contained a close-up photograph of a cat’s head being cut open during a dissection. Instead, PETA is now being slammed as 'f**king disgusting* after it chose to pander to meme culture and joke how the cat in the picture is not a cake, but a real one. Read more about cookies here. The cat, which is assumed to already be dead, has its face completely split in 2 after being dissected. . The graphic picture was accompanied by the words “Not cake,” plus a broken-heart emoji and the hashtag #CutOutDissection.. YouTube pranksters often fake disturbing content for clicks – sometimes with the stated intent of revealing something new about human nature. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. The video also contains no indication that PETA produced it or that it was anything other than a personal video by an abusive pet owner trying to get his cat to perform tricks for the camera – and presumably, a cat video-hungry audience online. During a time of “heightened concern” about fake news on the Internet, Mashable executive editor Jessica Coen said on Wednesday that “publishing a story like this, that pulls back the curtain, is in the public interest.” Coen called the campaign, as initially pitched to the publication, “a shameless and blatant attempt to spread misinformation.”, “The abuse of animals is horrible,” she said. PETA wanted disturbing cat abuse video to go viral — before they were going to reveal it was fake, Real penguins were spooked by pyrotechnics at a Pittsburgh Penguins game, and PETA isn’t happy, ‘PETA is lying’: Ontario animal trainer fires back at ‘zealots,’ denies mercilessly whipping tiger, Jen Gerson: The day PETA killed a pet dog, tap here to see other videos from our team. PETA would release a sequel to the original video, one that revealed the message the animal rights organization hoped its viewers would remember: While “Rufus” wasn’t real, bigger cats performing in circuses are trained in a similar manner to do tricks. How 'Tiger King' Is Helping PETA Crack Down on Big-Cat Abusers. The image isn't censored... And people aren’t at all pleased about it. “Rufus, jump,” he says, and slaps the house cat hard, in the head. PETA also wrote, "She is using the platform to post animal abuse, which sends a dangerous message to anyone watching her videos." The image posted by the US-based organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Twitter contained a close-up photograph of a cat’s head being cut open during a dissection. But that’s too little too late,” Coen said. Instead of playing along, Mashable decided to write about the pitch itself. PETA captioned their tweet with, “Not cake #CutOutDissection” – which was in reference to the realistic cake trend that’s going around social media at the moment. The only issue here is timing.” Newkirk argued in an email to The Washington Post. The backlash PETA suffered, naturally, flew in from more than just cat lovers, even though that section of society didn't mince their flak when it came to comments. The graphic picture was accompanied by the words “Not cake,” plus a broken-heart emoji and the hashtag #CutOutDissection. “You don’t need to resort to falsehoods.”, When The Post first reached Newkirk by phone on Wednesday morning, she was initially unaware of the exact pitch Mashable had received but said the pitch and its intent, as described to her over the phone by a reporter, was “not a pitch that PETA would make.” Later, Newkirk clarified that PETA “knew the PR company was looking for a partner to promote the videos, with the goal of getting people to be outraged about what was being done to a fake cat,” to be followed by a second video that explained Rufus was a CGI creation, and contained the message of the actual campaign: “that this parody abuse is really meted out to big cats in the circus and for movies.”. There was an error, please provide a valid email address. Hear how PETA's team is shutting down the big-cat petting industry cage by cage, including with a recent rescue of 25 animals from an abuser who may be worse than the "Tiger King" himself. “PETA is justifying much of the plan based on the fact that there’d be a follow-up reveal. Peta posted a very disturbing image onto their Twitter feed of a cat who had been dissected in half. Newkirk added that PETA was “taken aback” by Mashable’s article and that it was “unfortunate Mashable didn’t wait for our response, as we were still assessing our approach.” Newkirk also emphasized that the video, as described to Mashable in that pitch, was never released to the public. The image posted by the US-based organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Twitter contained a close-up photograph of a cat’s head being cut open during a dissection. “Your posting of the provocative piece would simply be to acknowledge that it’s in circulation – not to make any claims about its authenticity,” the pitch continued. This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. The “owner” appears to be filming “Rufus” himself. “To follow up even 48 hours later is pointless.”. . PETA also provided The Washington Post with copies of the videos that were sent to and viewed by Mashable. Naturally, a lot of people had fun with this and made a lot of jokes about how they cut everything they see and it turns out to be cake. Share Tweet Pin. The owner sighs, walks over to the cat and instructs again. The tossing of her cat has caused a previous video to resurface during which she feeds vodka to her cat, which is not cool. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. We encountered an issue signing you up. The image posted by the US-based organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Twitter contained a close-up photograph of a cat’s head being cut open during a dissection. “There was never . Many of those videos are popular, but the Internet is less forgiving when those personalities decline to cue within the video that what they just watched isn’t real. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This isn't the first time one of Alinity's cats has been mistreated during a live stream. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. Finally, the cat does the trick. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. 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