They say that sometimes the only way to get through to those you hold dear is with some tough love, so if you're just about at the end of your rope with a naughty, incorrigible pet gerbil, hamster, cat or guinea pig, it may be time to consider confining little Nibbles or Fluffy in a small electrified cage. For those of you who don't know how to build such a, um, specialty product -- and who would probably electrocute yourselves trying to figure it out -- Metacafe member NK5 has posted a handy how-to video on transforming an old CRT monitor into the power source for what is essentially a miniature version of those fences you see surrounding prisons and meth labs while driving along rural highways. Of course, NK5 also suggests a number of other, more pedestrian uses for the contraption, but embark on this project entirely at your own risk -- we're talking 30,000+ volts coursing through that cage. Check out the vid after the break...
Note: No animals were harmed in the writing of this post, and Engadget does not actually endorse shocking small pets, only snuggling them.
Update: Whoa, looks like some people didn't watch the video before leaving a comment. If you had, you'd know that it has nothing to do with making a "cat prison," and we only put that spin on this post to highlight the absurdity of the imagery. Still, we apologize to those of you who consider this to be a promotion of animal cruelty, and promise to give our own pets an extra tummy rub tonight in repentance.
[Thanks, Aaron C.]
posted August 30th 2007 1:03AM
This is a bloody disgrace.
I watched the video - at no stage is an animal "harmed". Point taken.
I understand that this might be your idea of a "joke" ... but it is sickos like you who perpetuate the myth that it is OK to laugh about harming animals.
Would a picture of a baby in an electric fence be funny? NO.
So why is a picture of a cat in an electric fence funny? IT'S NOT!
Saying you don't endorse harming animals is a bullshit cop out!
You PERPETUATE THE MYTH THAT IT IS OK !
You make me reconsider reading your "blog"!
I have another photo for you...
http://www.funnypictures.net.au/userimages/user1680_1168841043.jpg
ZOMG!! The gun, it's pointed at tha kitti!!
http://trouble.philadelphiaweekly.com/archives/kitten-37.jpg
Oh No! Someone cruel put this kitten in a tree!! It might fall and die!!
http://cityrag.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/05/22/wtf_kitten.jpg
How cruel can people be!!!! The cat could have swallowed water and drowned!
Ugh... you people piss me off. Where do you draw your line between cute and wrong?
Actually seeing a baby in an electric fence would be pretty amusing, might also be useful.
you know what? thanks to this guys suggestion I no longer have to worry about my son escaping his playpen! thanks for the idea!
Not funny, please remove this fucking story!
Just adding my last comment - I'm off to other more sane sites who can exercise good taste - Keep catering to the trailer park trash and the rednecks engadget - I'm walking and I wont be back.
Thanks for saving bandwidth and making Engadget load faster for the rest of us!
we all know it's the amps that's harmful in current, so i wonder what kind of amperage the system is pushing? 30k volts is a lot, and paired with a a certain amount of amperage, the system described is dangerous. Also, I think the video does not outline safety sufficiently. I feel that perhaps such a popular blog should consider the safety of their audience. I'm not saying this is a bad post, however, just may be dangerous.
If you thought that was cruel watch this http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=K_zpdyBz3VM
for god sake shut the hell up!!! the cat was not harmed.... and was just a joke... it was funny....
get off your high horse, its just a joke….. like many other like it…
I think its you who need to grow up, and just let crap like this drop… it caused no harm to anything…
They dint even show how to properly make the damn thing…. If your stupid enough to try it I bet you electrocute yourself before a freekin cat…. And if you do fry yourself, they GOOD, we need less idiots copying something they saw off the internet which was obviously done by someone who actually knows what their doing…
And yeah…. I have 4 cats…
please, for god's sake, remove it
You know that, kids and teens in the North America are sick and schizo. U name it, open fire in schools, killing their classmates, school gangs kidnap and rape girls...
it's pretty sure those sick kids will somehow copycat this and have fun with their pets
Yeah...animal cruelty! they should have never even considered putting that piggy bank in there, I'm calling PETA.
you should pull this down
I have just lost a great amount of respect for you, engadget. This is not the type of story a blog of this caliber should be posting. Very dissapointed!
I was horrified seeing this... joke or not, this is really awful. I don't think you should post or even joke about hurting innocent cute little animals. It kind of sickens me. I love your blog, but you should really take this post off. It does promote for people to "copy" this joke and to do it for real.
cute little animals in electrified fences=bad.....so would a turkey vulture be funny because it's ugly?
No, not at all... I think even if it is ugly, still not funny. He really should take this picture off of his blog... very disturbing!
Scale up the model and put it to use down Guantanamo way. That would cause outrage. Get a sense of perspective - although offensive to the eyes of animal lovers, the kitten wasn't actually harmed. It's the idea that is causing the outrage and the laughs, relative to individual perspective.
Move on.
Michael Vick will take two.
very bad , you should all die now...
There is some value in knowing that you can make use of an old monitor or tv as a high-voltage source for experiments like a DIY home fusion reactor.
I understand the attempt at humor in the progression of items placed inside the fence - jewelry -> beer -> piggy bank - ha ha!. And, I understand that the cat (who looks just like mine) being placed in there is supposed to be funny because it's an absurd situation that no one would actually do.
Engadget, however, put the focus on "cat + high-voltage", and the additional suggestions of animal cruelty (gerbil, hamster, guinea pig...) really steer away the readers from the intent of this video in an inappropriate direction. This is just poor taste.
People do sick things to smaller creatures all of the time - there is no need to provide inspiration.
And, mishandling the guts of a CRT can be fatal, should you hit the capacitor storing 30KV. Or so I was told (in a very loud voice) as a kid when found disassembling my TV. I so would have tried this back then, just to make the arcs and sparks, and probably would have killed myself.
I get that it's a joke and I do find it funny but you just know that there's some ass out there who will decide to try it out for real and while I can't blame Engadget for the asses of the world, I do think it probably would've been just a bit better if this wasn't published, and ditto goes for the creator of the video.
I concur. This needs to go. Stop giving the crazies out there ideas :/
That's great! Now I finally have something to have a safe place to store my Matrix dvd's. Oh and if you decided that you had the time and know how to safely disassemble a tv you probably should get shocked.
Pretty lame guys. I've lost quite a bit of respect for Engadget.
But can it play Doo...j/k!
Will it blen...j/k!
I like snuggling cats ;D
of course it would blend, its a cat, all cats blend
I love cats and dogs and cruelty against helpless animals is not fucking funny.
You may think it's harmless, but by posting the sentiment you are sending a message to people who take it more seriously than you that it's ok. It's not.
I heard this from a comedian once "Any joke you find offensive should be considered as a tax on all the jokes you have found funny in the past as they are sure to of offended someone else"
Why should bloggers/writters/journalists have to censor themselves in case someone takes it the wrong way, if everyone did that there would be nothing interesting written ever.
what I'm saying is TRY HARDER! for something to be humorous it has be FUNNY. - my wife tells me this all the time.
You can be funny in ways other than insulting people, swearing and appealing to peoples basest instincts like violence and sexism. You can write about that stuff, but it's not funny
This is about society. Even our pet prisons are full of BLACK cats. Wake UP people!
(snicker)
&*%$ Cats! Its obviously a joke morons. Wish it wasnt though. I hate cats
you know what's funny? all these haters are going to be getting right back on engadget tomorrow when they have nothing else to do. Goodbye engadget? I think not. And dogs pwn cats. My dog DOES clean herself and unlike your cat, my dog takes a dump outside, where I don't have to smell it.
I hope all the people outraged by this blog entry are vegetarians, otherwise I have lost a huge amount of respect for them...hypocrites.
I can't believe how many shallow minded dolts there are commenting on this site.
I'm referring to those who are offended by this post, of course. It was a joke. Even if you don't find it funny, anyone with an IQ over 30 does. Get over it.
It's funny how you are all saying that it was a poor helpless cat that they stuck in the cage. I heard he clawed the eyes out of a toddler : /.
Dear God people - get the collective stick removed from your ass - ask for help from your friend if neccesary! IT WAS A JOKE - a bad joke - but still a joke. As to those saying this gives ideas to kids, teens, and crazies - to late - and they can come up with plenty worse on the own if they really want to. So for god sakes get the hell over it already and MOVE ON! Get a life - get outside - go and give your pet a treat and treat them to a great day to calm your nerves or something. Here's a even better idea - go out with your friends, family, significant other to the local bar - have a bunch of laughs and get on with a happy better life!
thats intereting.I'm gonna test it on my short-tempered pitbull before euthanize.
Oh sure everybody is wailing over the poor little kitty! The poor little kitty!
Who tell me who, WHO is wailing over that poor old CRT!!! First it's ripped apart by a horrible sick bastard who then proceeds to PULL IT'S HEART OUT!!!! That old crt should be living out the end of it's days working in some seldom used server closet hooked up to a nice friendly web server!!! But NOOOO, now that sicko rips it's guts out and uses it to protect poor defensless beer from possible consumption by some roomie.
Engadget you should be ashamed of yourselves!
wow, what is wrong with people? yea, its not that funny, but its a joke and some people will find it funnier than others. all you people wailing about animal torture need to think it through. being smart enough to build thisis a seperate issuse from being cruel enough to torture an animal. any idiot can take a gun or something else to an animal, and its wrong and they should be put in an 8 foot high buy 1 foot square one of these, all this they dont need ideas stuff is crazy because if they really want to hurt the poor thing, they dont need an idea to accomplish it imagining that someone seeing this is suddenly going to go from nice cat person to sadistic cat and beer torturer is stupid.
this is like saying "lets ban all guns because people kill each other with them" if someone wants to harm another person, they will find a way to get a gun and do it, as often happens, or get another way. you'd be better off teaching people how to defend themselves with a gun
all that being said people not being able to enjoy a harmless( to the kitty, as your comments harmed my faith in humanity) joke because you dont find it funny is dumb, nobody made you watch it, you made yourself, because you thought OMG, poor kitty, engadget always posts animal torture stories, this must be true. and jeeze, if you got that far, you must have read the article, where in case you missed the kitty imprisonment SARCASM, they go on to say, he didnt do anything to the cat, this was supposed to be funny. if at this point you dont think its funny, MOVE ON, what point is it gonna cause to bitch at a bunch of people on a blog, about a damn joke! go bitch about corrupt politicans blackmailing people and selling defense secrets, illigal firearms, and taking bribes to make themselves more powerful and rich, somewhere where it might do some good for humanity.
I wanted to take a special moment out of my day to say this:
That video was fucking hilarious. The kitty obliviously was not hurt in any way, and everyone decrying this post as 'evil' and 'satanic' and shouting 'zomg other people will teh do this to kittz!' or saying how they wont be coming back to Engadget wont be missed. You are the stupid humorless people this world needs less of. Do you actually think this site will be hurt by a few whiny people stopping to come to the site? You would be sorely wrong.
Please post more joke videos with old tech put to comical uses like this one, i really enjoyed it.
Wow. You people really are a bunch of 'tards.
I'm enjoying reading the three comments defending the article, then one article by some misguided moron complaining "Oh, the insanity, oh the animal torture."
Get a damn clue.
i found this a very amusing video.
everyone complaining about animal cruelty:
you sound like jack thompson. get over it.
are you all old men and women who have nothing better to do than criticize everyone else? like those crazy old ladies who don't want magazines featuring women in bikinis on display for "our children to see"? or conservative christians who shake their fists at video games that "condone violence"? oh, do our movies and tv shows contain too much "sexual content"?
oh no! mortal kombat has fatalities in it: that's going to encourage our school children to rip out each other's spines on the playground!!
give me a break.
it's not video games that include guns that encourage people to shoot each other. no, we get plenty of that encouragement from the wars in history. people have had a desire to kill each other since the dawn of time - except they used rocks back then instead of projectile weapons. do you think there were cave people who tried to put a ban on ROCKS because ROCKS KILL PEOPLE?
the same goes for this. it was a joke, and if you're too stubborn to admit it was in good fun, then good riddance.
honestly, do you really think the height of that fence is going to keep that cat in there?
I wonder if science will come up with a way to transplant a sense-of-humor into these poor schmucks. Yes, it's funny. It's not anywhere NEAR the low end of the comedy spectrum.
How many of you watch the Simpsons? "OMG they're perpetuating the myth that strangling your kids is okay!! Fox must be only for trailer trash."
No, Fox, like Engadget is for those with a sense of frigging humor. I have 3 grown cats, and 4 1 month old kittens. I still found it funny. I wouldn't if the cat got hurt, but it didn't. And since it didn't understand the concept OF an electric fence, I doubt it was even scared. It probably just hopped right out as soon as the camera was off, and went about its normal life, SOMEHOW able to deal with this incredible trauma you PEOPLE are feeling now.
Take a lesson from the cat, folks.
And to everybody leaving over this- Woohoo! More free schwag for me in the contest!
Like the cool catty cage. I would knot have thought of it if I did not see your video.
IT WAS REALLIE FUNNY I AM GOING TO TRY THAT WITH MY SISTER CAT NAMED CHARLIE. HE ALSO LIKES WHEN I DIP HIM IN WATER TO.
THANKS FOR YOUR IDEA.
I WOULD HAVE NEVER HAVE THOUGHT OF IT ON MINE OWN. TKS.
TOM JR.
I just wonder if as many people would've whined and complained about this posting if an emo kid was placed into the electric cage instead?
"Oh noes! Placing humans in an electrified time-out cage is inhumane! When will the suffering stop?! Don't you know this would give the tormentors in Darfur even more horrible ideas?! Oh noes!"