Man Uses Crowd Funding Website To Get âRansomâ For Cat
Â An unknown man has created a Kickstarter page where he claims he is holding a stray cat for ransom. The anonymous page went up to the Kickstarter website, which has its offices in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday morning, with the goal of âI Wonât Kill This Fââ Cat.âThe Kickstarter page features a man,Â his face blurred out, holding a gun to the headÂ of a cat. The anonymous man has posted that if he doesnât hit his goal of $60,000, then he is going to shoot the cat in the face and post a video of it online.âThere are no perks with this Kickstarter,â the page says. âYou send me money. I donât care if itâs a dollar or a thousand dollars. Youâll all get the same perk â and that perk is saving the life of this cat. If I donât hit my goal, then Iâm going to shoot this cat, film it, and post it online. Then everyone who saw this post, or heard about it, and didnât donateÂ any money, can know they had a hand it murdering an animal.âAccording to Kickstarter, they are keeping the page up while they work with members of the FBI to track down the individual who posted the page. At this time, they are not sure if the page is a legitimate threat towards the animal, or if it is someone trying to capitalize on the fact that no one wants to see an innocent animal harmed, and may be willing to fork over their own money to make sure it doesnât happen.âItâs entirely possible itâs all a joke, and heâd never hurt the animal. He may just want to score easy money,â says Aaron Silver, lead investigator for the FBIâs Animal Crimes and Abuse unit. âAt this time, though, we are treating it as if he is being serious, and working hard to track down the poster.âRepresentatives for Kickstarter could not be reached for comment, but a person at their offices ask that all inquiries about the anonymous account or the page itself be directed to the FBI as they investigate.âKickstarter has been used for some good things,â said Silver. âWeâve seen great technology and even great movies get made with crowd funding. Granted, weâve also seen a man collect almost $50,000 to makeÂ potato salad, but in the end this sort of âcome-together-with moneyâ attitude can be great. Unfortunately, it can also be used by sickosÂ who are preying on the internet population, hoping for an easy payday, notoriety, or both.âAt the time of this writing, the Kickstarter page had only managed to earn $27.Â Â