Posted on 02/25/2007 8:37:17 AM PST by FlJoePa
February 20, 2007 11:42 p.m. EST
Megan Shannon - All Headline News Staff Writer Tampa, FL (AHN) - Animal services are up in arms about a Tampa-based fast food restaurant promotional stunt asking customers to dress their cats in specially designed take out bags.
The bags were invented after Checkers restaurant saw that Rap Cat, a cat puppet used in Checkers advertising commercials, was gaining popularity.
The bags have holes for the legs and tail of the cat as well as a head hole in the bottom of the bag. The bag is designed to look like a baseball jersey with a gold chain like the Rap Cat character. Checkers is asking customers to send in photos and videos of their cats in costume.
Hillsborough County Animal Control said this is a matter of animal cruelty.
Marti Ryan with Hillsborough Animal Control said, "It appears to be an exercise, I'm sorry, in ignorance. So if you try to put them in a paper bag and make them dance and take pictures, they're going to exhibit a typical fight or flight response. And if they fight, you're going to get hurt," he says.
Checkers representatives say the bags are all in good fun. A disclaimer on the bag reads, "Not all cats will be down with wearing this bag. Do not harm or endanger any cat."
This is about as annoying as those Jingle Cats.
Maybe they can expiate their anxiety by taking a few hundred stray cats out and euthanizing them.
meow
"Don't get p'd when I force you to wrap your thumb when I peal it back like a banana some night when you least expect it"
Why should animal services be any different?
Given enough time, all public servants degenerate into wannabe public masters.
It's part of the human genes.
Firemen turn into rule and law-making fools.
Policemen lecture us on what is and what is not acceptable in protecting our homes and families, and now, yes, animal welfare types who can't get a real job, feel entitled to tell us how we may enjoy our pets.
I will put up my cat and dog against any of these losers in the well-cared, fed, health and happiness department.
And we've enjoyed scotch tape on the paws and dress-up on special occasions. They are part of the family and they must enjoy it. They are both next to a family member 24/7.
When my daughter was a young child she had baby buggies, doll clothes, stuffed toys, but no doll. Her dress-up companion was Mademoiselle, the kitty. Mamsy lived to be 22...
Silliness season.
Generally, from what I've found is that if the cat doesn't want to go in the paper bag, he has ways of making that clear. And costly to the person doing it.
A friend gave me a bag yesterday. Debating whether or not to try to dress up my 3 year old Blue Point Siamese - Canoe. I think I might clip his claws first.
BTW, here's Rap Cat's bio from his website:
Hip hop used to be a humans game. Not anymore.
Here comes Rapcat. The most skilled cat-rapper on the scene today and some say, the most skilled rapper of any species.
Rapcats got a flow that cannot be matched, honed in the streets and alleys of his hometown, Jersey City. In the tradition of the greatest East Coast rappers, Rapcat writes all his own lyrics.
Almost since he was a kitten, Rapcat was hustling his mixtapes on the street and in the parking lot of Checkers, his favorite hangout. His underground cred, already strong, skyrocketed when he got sent off to the St. Louis Home for Delinquent Felines, for the crime of dealing catnip. (Which is legal, but we all know no jurys gonna give a cat a fair trial.)
While in The Cage, Rapcat perfected a tougher rhyme style. Once a week hed squeeze through the bars and sneak over to Rallys. He would bring some burgers back for himself, and some to trade with the other cats for balls of yarn and recording equipment.
By the time he got out for good behavior, Rapcats first full-length album was complete. His tales of hard livin on the streets form the core of Look What I Dragged In, already a bootleg classic.
While in The Cage, Rapcat perfected a tougher rhyme style. Once a week hed squeeze through the bars and sneak over to Rallys. He would bring some burgers back for himself, and some to trade with the other cats for balls of yarn and recording equipment.
By the time he got out for good behavior, Rapcats first full-length album was complete. His tales of hard livin on the streets form the core of Look What I Dragged In, already a bootleg classic.
In 2006, Rapcat was rocketed to worldwide fame with his appearance in the now-famous Checkers/Rallys TV commercial.
Now hes back with his major-label debut, 8 Lives Left. 12 new jams to fire up the radio, rip up the dancefloors, and make the national booty shake. The killer first track, Meow Meow, rides like a white-leather upholstered Caddy on a silk highway, with a strawberry milkshake in the cupholder.
No doubt, its gonna be the party anthem of 2007. Maybe even 2008 and 2009. At least, until Rapcat releases his next single.
So whats next for the Fellini of Felines? Movie acting? Producing for other up-and-coming alleycats? A clothing line? Hes not saying.
For now, life is good for rap fans and cat fanciers worldwide.
My dogs were asleep at my feet until I clicked on the link and the cat began to meow. One dog got up to look around, the other laid there an growled. I don't think my pups are Rap Cat fans.
We don't have the restaurants where we live, so I've never seen the commercials.
Oh for pete sake its just a paper bag.Instead of real animal cruelty they get in a uproar over this
Marti Ryan with Hillsborough Animal Control said,....
and I say Ryan needs to take a Chill pill and a big cup of STFU
I think that to properly handle cats one must put them in something much stouter than paper bags.
I suppose it depends on the cat. All the cats I ever owned, including Ace, the current one, will wear his own bag.
All I have to do is put it on the floor, and in he goes.
I wonder if the fact that he's an indoor cat and very much a constant part of the family make a difference?
In that case they would have hated me when I was a little girl cause I used to dress my kitten up in dolls clothes. I truly destest animal abuse but this ISN'T abuse!
Just the two of them.
It was a cold, dark, stormy night. The storm had come quickly
and each time the thunder boomed he watched her jump.
She looked across the room and admired his strong appearance...and
wished that he would take her in his arms, comfort her and protect her from the storm.
She wanted that...more than anything.
Suddenly, with a pop, the power went out... She screamed...
He raced to the sofa where she was cowering.
He didn't hesitate to pull her into his arms.
He knew this was a forbidden union and
expected her to pull back.
He was surprised when she didn't resist but instead clung to him
The storm raged on...as did their growing passion.
And there came a moment when each knew that they had to be together.
They knew it was wrong...
Their families would never understand... So consumed were they in their passion that they heard no opening of doors..just the faint click of a camera.....
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Well it's a QUALITY OF LIFE issue. Those cats are better off dead than having wanton sex and getting dressed in paper sacks. < /s >
Agree...too bad they don't act on real animal abuse like they do on this genuinely funny ad campaign.
Hillsborough County Animal Control said this is a matter of animal cruelty.
&&
Typical liberals; no sense of humor.
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