- Save Toby
Save Toby is a humor
website . The premise of the site is that the website's anonymous webmasters, will eat Toby, a petrabbit , unless he receives $50,000 in donations to care for it. The website has also spawned a book, fully titled: "Save Toby: Only YOU have the power to save Toby!"SaveToby.com
The website was created near the beginning of 2005cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/savetoby.asp|title=Save Toby|publisher=Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com)|accessdate=2008-06-12] . The website claimed that the owner found Toby wounded outside his home, and nursed the rabbit back to health, not believing it would survive. However, it did, and he was unable to afford to care for him. The website then claimed that, unless he received $50,000 in
US dollar s to pay for its care, he would eat the rabbitcite web |url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/13/rabbit_extortion/ |title=Give me $50k or the rabbit dies|publisher=The Register|accessdate=2008-06-12] . The money could be either donated directly, or through purchasing "Save Toby" merchandise. The website includes several pictures of Toby, as well as manyrecipe s that can be used to prepare and cook rabbit.cite web |url=http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/03/21/sociedad/s-02901.htm |title=Una página de Internet pide dinero a cambio de no matar a un conejo |publisher=Clarin.com|accessdate=2008-06-12|language=Spanish] The webmasters have remained anonymous, claiming they have receiveddeath threat scite episode|title=Rabbit Death threat engages animal activists|episodelink=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7406483/|series=NBC Nightly News|airdate=2005-04-11] . They go by the names "James" and "Brian", however "James" admits his name is apseudonym .The original deadline for receiving the money was
June 30 2005 . When the deadline passed, they extended it toNovember 6 2006 , claiming that problems withPaypal made it impossible for people to donate money and that it was the only fair thing to do for Tobycite web|url=http://www.savetoby.com/updates/13.php|title=Save Toby website update page|publisher=SaveToby.com|accessdate=2008-06-12] It was later changed toThanksgiving Day , 2006, because of the release of the book. In December 2006, the site announced that humor website [http://www.bored.com bored.com] had purchased the website, and therefore Toby had been savedcite web|url=http://blog.ericgoldman.org/personal/archives/2006/12/savetobycom_the.html|title=SaveToby.com -- the Final Chapter|accessdate=2008-06-12] . It is claimed that over $24,000 was collected by the websiteSave Toby: Only YOU have the power to save Toby!
The book was released in September of 2005. The book made a new threat: if 100,000 copies of the book were not sold, Toby would be eaten at
Thanksgiving dinner cite web|url=http://www.savetoby.com/updates/14.php|title=Save Toby book press release|accessdate=2008-06-12] . The number of copies of the book sold is unknown. The book includes pictures of Toby, and various recipes for cooking rabbit. It also has instructions on how to run a similar sitecite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/theres-one-born-every-minute/2007/11/07/1194329266039.html?page=fullpage|title=There's one born every minute|publisher=The Age|accessdate=2008-06-12] .Public response & legitimacy
The website received media attention throughout the
United States and in other countries. Toby was also featured onNBC Nightly News The website made many
animal rights activists upset, claiming that the owners were engaging inanimal cruelty . They attempted to have the site removed, however the company that hosted the site,Go Daddy , claimed that there was nothing illegal about the site and that "it was perfectly legal to eat a rabbit". PayPal accounts used for donations were often frozen due to complaints about the site.There has also been questions about whether or not the site was legitimate. The owners, when asked, claimed that the site was completely serious and they would eat the rabbit. However, the nature of the website suggests it is a hoax or joke, a retelling of older jokes that threaten harm to an animal unless you buy a product (for example, National Lampoon once ran a cover with a gun aimed at a puppy, stating "Buy this magazine, or the puppy dies"). The site itself never makes it clear that it is a joke, however "funny" and "humor" are included in the site's search keywordsFact|date=June 2008.
There were other similar website in existence around the same time that threatened to eat a rabbit unless a monetary demand was met. One, "
Save Bernd! ", predates Save Toby. It demanded a 1,000,000euro ransom. The site claims that "Bernd is gone", but not that he was eaten. Small letters at the bottom of the page make it clear that "It's a joke".ee Also
Save Bernd References
External links
* [http://www.savetoby.com/ Save Toby homepage]
*James and Brian, "Save Toby: Only YOU have the power to save Toby!" (Citadel,September 1 2005 ) (ISBN 978-0806527611)
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