A spoof website devoted to 'growing' kittens in glass jars is under investigation by the FBI.
The site offers to sell kittens grown in jars using the "ancient oriental art" of pet modification so they end up the same shape as the container.
Bonsaikitten.com has been created by students and has attracted massive criticism from animal lovers.
The site says: "At Bonsai Kitten, we achieve this by placing the kitten into a rigid vessel soon after birth...the kitten essentially grows into the shape of the vessel...producing the lovable, furry pet you've always wanted, but it remains in the shape you've always dreamed of! There is virtually no limit to the eventual shape of your pet."
Detailed but spurious information and photos of a kitten going through the process are also pictured on the site, reports wired.com.
Advice is also given for amateurs who want to "grow their own".
FBI agents in Boston have now ordered all information on the site to be handed over for investigation.
The site's creator, a graduate student at Massachussetts Institute of Technology, uses the pseudonym Dr Michael Wong Chang.
He said: "I really thought that the FBI had better things to do. That's your tax dollars at work."
Bonsaikitten.com has sparked tens of thousands of hate-mail messages, anti-Bonsai Kitten groups and a blistering denunciation from the Humane Society of the United States.
PA