leave rapcat to the professionals
We’re letting the cat out of the bag.
Checkers is bringing back the national sensation that is known as RAPCAT. You may remember that rapcat made his debut at various left-side drive thrus.
With this new promotion, your fast food comes in a bag that is decorated in various sports uniforms. It includes instructions on how to create your own faux rap cat. Once you discard the food (I suppose you could eat it), you cut out holes for your cat’s legs, and slip the cat in the sack. Take photos and videos, and send ‘em to Checkers. The images, not the cat. Someone already did it, and left a photo comment at RapCat’s myspace page.
Hillsborough County doesn’t like the promotion:
Lesson: Don’t Stuff Cat In The Bag
Hillsborough County Animal Services is issuing an advisory to all citizens with regard to the safety of a contest sponsored by a local fast-food restaurant chain.A marketing initiative called “Rapcat” invites customers to place live felines inside bags from food purchases. Each paper sack is decorated with a mock sports uniform and comes complete with instructions for cutting out the armholes and placing the animal inside the bag.
Customers are then invited to take pictures for the corporate website, providing further incentive to carry out this potentially dangerous activity.
As a matter of public safety and humanitarian animal treatment, Hillsborough County Animal Services is advising citizens not to participate in activities that are likely to cause injury to the animal and its handler.
The “Rapcat” bag does list a small disclaimer advising “not to harm or endanger any cat.” However, Hillsborough County Animal Services feels that the recommendation to place cats inside a paper bag is likely to cause injury to citizens attempting to carry out the act.
It is also notable that the action of forcing a cat inside a bag may constitute “torment,” and as such, be grounds for the charge of felony animal cruelty.
Hillsborough County Animal Services hopes that the fast food restaurant chain will take actions to correct this situation. For further information, please contact (813) 744-5660.
There are a million jokes in there, make up your own.
Tags: restaurant, tv
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February 19th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
If you put a paper bag on the floor in my house you’d have a hard time keeping the cats out of it. I don’t imagine it would be hard to get their paws through “arm” holes and get a picture taken before they grew too irritated to bother. I hope Hillsborough County Aminal Services spends as much effort working on convincing people that chaining a dog out in the yard alone all day, with unreliable access to water, is cruel and worthy of arrest.
February 19th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
You can be proud. They’re so ON it. Yet dog-fighting and cock-fighting remain well-attended and supported. Got their own bumper-stickers. If I can figure it out surely all the supposed animal specialists can….
I’m gonna miss those checkers burgers ….
February 19th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
I agree that we animals are our companions and not toys. Probably not a good thing to do to your cat. Don’t think it can really hurt them but someone could man handle them a bit to get them into the bag.
Point is we should have a bit more respect for our animal companions. But then when people don’t have any respect for each other it’s hardly surprising that they’d exploit animals for their enjoyment.
February 20th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
This is just further evidence of how dumb we’re getting as a nation that this is actually news and has people up in arms. I agree with PT, there are MUCH larger animal issues to be dealing with.
Of course no one should ever hurt their animals - or anyone else’s animals, but I dress mine up all the time in stupid crap and take loads of pictures. Does that make me a bad pet owner? I dare anyone to come over to my house for an hour or two then talk to my vet and anyone else who knows me then say otherwise.
But again, here we go catering to the lowest common denominator and living in fear of law suits and each other’s stupidity. It’s like the “professional driver, closed course” or “don’t attempt this” tags they put on commercials or McDonald’s putting “HEY! THIS IS HOT” on your cup of coffee.
In the meantime I’ve scooped up 2 cats off of the street in front of a neighbor’s house who was basically breeding them by ignoring them under their house, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to call animal services over a dog or cat being treated with no humanity whatsoever.
A freaking paper bag is not going to hurt a cat. If your cat is not cool with being handled or put in an outfit, you’ll probably learn your lesson swiftly and mercilessly the first time you attempt to play dress-up with it.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Now only if the SPCA would come out and put in jail those people who dress up there pets in sweaters, hats and the like! That the real crime.
Cat in a bag, sounds like the newest special at a Chinesse take out joint.
February 21st, 2007 at 10:42 pm
I’ve owned cats all my life … or they’ve owned me. I can never figure that one out. Cats love to play in bags. They like the crinkly sound and being inside something.
Most probably won’t like being stuck inside a bag. Even if it does smell like hamburger. But to call it cruelty via torment is insane.
As many people have already stated, there are far, far worse animal cruelty situations HCAS could investigate and crack down on.
I’m not putting my two cats into RapCat sacks. I’m not afraid of being accused of animal cruelty, just being accused of stupidity. (Ok, ok, it would be funny, though hehe)
February 22nd, 2007 at 8:27 am
What happened to having a sense of humor? First of all, I have 9 cats and they are either too fat or too fast to fit into a Checkers bag. I agree with the folks who say there are bigger fish to fry in the ‘animal cruelty’ arena. No, wait, is fish frying considered animal cruelty too? I am getting confused now. At any rate, all you haters just lay off RapCat, its a funny commercial for crying out loud! If I tried to dress one of my cats in a paper bag I guarantee that when it was all over I would end up being the injured party. Don’t we have other things to worry about, like where Anna Nicole is going to be buried and if Kevin Federline is going to get custody of his kids? YEESH!
February 27th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Can’t wait to see Hillsborough County Animal Services crack down on the criminals running Petco, PetSmart, and any other store that sells costumes for pets. My cousin is a felony dog costumer. Don’t know how she can live with herself.
April 4th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I think animal services should concentrate on the real animal abusers then dressing up a cat in a paper bag. If the cat doesn’t like it trust me you will not get them in a bag. I agree with everyone about dressing up the animals. I put a hat and sunglasses on my dogs so does this make me cruel to my animals H.. No! And this is so true about pet costumes for halloween. So are they going to start targeting the stores. I bet animal services has put something on an animal before and dressed it up! They should focus more on what is going on inside animal services and worry more about saving the animals and bringing down the euthanisia rate. Instead they worry about something so stupid. My animals live like royalty.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
their is only one real rapcat see http://www.clubrapcat.com