An artist who tried to starve three piglets to death as part of a controversial exhibition says he has changed his plan after the animals were stolen.
Chilean-born Marco Evaristti said he had wanted to raise awareness of the suffering caused by mass meat production with his art installation that opened last week in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The piglets were being denied food and water and would have been allowed to starve to death.
But Mr Evaristti said the piglets – dubbed Lucia, Simon and Benjamin – were taken by animal rights activists who were assisted by his friend, Caspar Steffensen.
“I called up police on Saturday to report the piglets stolen and I had to shut down the entire exhibition because of that – so I was very disappointed when Caspar told me on Tuesday that he was involved in the theft,” said Mr Evaristti, who also claimed to have received hate mail.
“But then I thought about it for a few hours and realised that at least this way the piglets would have a happy life.”
Copenhagen police said they had received reports “that the pigs had been stolen from the exhibition”.
Mr Evaristti’s exhibition, And Now You Care, involved a makeshift cage created with shopping trolleys containing the three piglets.
He said the intention was to raise awareness about the cruelties of modern pig production in Denmark.
The Animal Protection Denmark welfare group says sows are bred in the Danish pig industry to produce about 20 piglets at a time – but with only 14 teats, piglets are forced to compete for milk and often starve.
However, several animal rights groups voiced concern about Mr Evaristti’s exhibition, saying while they welcomed initiatives to raise awareness, they did not condone animal abuse.
Mr Steffensen said he could not allow the three animals to face a painful death after his 10-year-old daughter had begged him to “make sure the piggies won’t die”.
“So when I was approached by an activist to help free the animals, I let them into the gallery secretively on Saturday,” he said.
Read more:
Artwork recovered after museum employee threw piece in bin
Painting of nude woman with legs open prompts police visit
However, Mr Evaristti said he will revive the exhibition and hopes to somehow get dead piglets from meat processing plants and present them to the public.
“I’m in the process of acquiring animals that have died of starvation or other terrible circumstances in agriculture. I want to display them in a transparent refrigerator,” he told Denmark’s Ekstra Bladet.
He said his aim was to fill the transparent refrigerator to bursting point with dead animals to show how animals in agriculture are squeezed into small cages.
Having acquired the refrigerator, he said he now just needed the dead animals.
“I’m willing to pay a high price,” he added.
