Sadistic whackos on the Web

NBC Nightly News ran a shocking (although still rather amusing) story this evening about a cute little, however ill-fated, bunny rabbit named Toby. The operators of his website claim that if they do not receive $50,000 by June 30th, they are going to eat him.

Of course, my first inclination was that this is a hoax. However, the segment on NBC featured a phone interview with one of the "owners" of this "foundation," in which the man clearly stated, "as a matter of fact, this is dead serious" or something to that extent.

Unfortunately, the tone of the website does not serve to convince me of their "seriousness."

On June 30th, 2005, Toby will die. I am going to eat him. I am going to take Toby to a butcher to have him slaughter this cute bunny. I will then prepare Toby for a midsummer feast. I have several recipes under consideration, which can be seen, with some pretty graphic images, under the recipe section.

I don’t want to eat Toby, he is my friend, and he has always been the most loving, adorable pet. However, God as my witness, I will devour this little guy unless I receive 50,000$ USD into my account from donations or purchase of merchandise. You can help this poor, helpless bunny’s cause by making donations through my verified PayPal account by clicking on any of the Donate buttons on this site, or by purchasing merchandise at the Savetoby.com online store.

"I will...prepare Toby for a midsummer feast"? No one talks like that when they are serious. How about "I don't want to eat Toby, he is my friend"? It's as if some demon is forcing the guy to eat him and there's nothing he can do to stop it. Rubbish.

Meanwhile, animal rights activists the world over are reacting to the site with appal. Here's what the UK Telegraph News had to say.

At least one good thing has come out of this debacle in recent days. Even though from a legal standpoint, one's First Amendment right would have to apply, that doesn't mean that privately-owned services can't decide to pull the plug on SaveToby.

SaveToby.com's money-making days may be at an end however. After receiving a flood of complaints from animal-lovers, PayPal, the on-line payment service the website was using to get donations, decided last month that the site violated its "offensive-materials" standards.

"I get a little sick to my stomach every time I look at that site," admitted Amanda Pires, a PayPal spokesman.

But I mean, really, can't a man just enjoy a nice rabbit for dinner and make a few bucks on the side? Isn't that what the free world is all about? Of course it is.