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A
one-one-of-a-kind handbag fashioned out of the pelt of a dead cat and
featuring the feline’s intact head as part of the decor has sparked
quite the debate online after its listing on an online auction site wen
viral.
Created by Clare Hobbs, a professional taxidermist from Christchurch,
New Zealand, the bizarre accessory is currently for sale at a starting
price of $1,400. Described as an expression of Hobbs’ “artistic passions
and desire to engineer the surreal, particularly using feral and
domestic felines,” the cat bag is certainly not for the faint of heart.
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Although the product description mentions that no animals were hurt or
killed for the creation of the unique piece, and Hobbs herself added
that it was made from a feral cat that had been “hit by a car on
backwash country road,” it still managed to attract some negative
comments.
“This isn’t really taxidermy,” one person wrote on TradeMe. “You have
turned this creature into something it is not, and a crass object at
that. An undignified end for this noble creature. A shame as you are
obviously talented, but would you do this to a human that was killed in
an accident?” As it turns out, yes. One user asked how much it would
cost to turn them into a bag in around 50 years or so, to which Hobbs
replied “Free ….u donate with proof of natural death and we will help.”
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“That is sick!! I love animals and you are totally disrespecting them!!”
one comment reads. “This is disgusting. Not the slightest bit creative
or artistic,” another adds.
Even Hans Kriek, director of New Zealand’s Save Animals From
Exploitation organization, said that while using animals that been put
down or died of natural causes for taxidermy was legal, the cat bag was
in poor taste and disrespectful to animals. “If you were to do these
with people it would be absolutely not acceptable … is turning a cat
into a handbag any worse than turning an elephant’s foot into an
umbrella stand?” he told Stuff.co.nz
But the feedback was definitely not all negative. In fact, most of the
comments were either supportive of Hobbs work or just humorous.
“Great work, art is supposed to initiate discussion and invigorate
emotion,” one user wrote. “Oh I love your work it’s beautiful I wish I
had enough money to purchase,” another added.
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One person even fired shots at hypocrites calling the cat handbag
morally wrong while using animal products every day: “Nice job, one less
cat eating our native birds. Everyone giving bad feedback should get off
there leather couch, throw away there cow skin wallets and purses out of
there possum and Marino thermals and out from under their goose down
duvet and jackets and look at them selves before judging others!”
The auction for the controversial cat hand bag ends on Wednesday, so if
you’re into this kind of thing and have $1,400 to spare, you’d better
act fast. |