Three piglets, part of an exhibition, were stolen in Copenhagen, Denmark, on March 1. The pigs were reportedly left to starve to death in what was a strange method to raise awareness about the cruelty of mass meat production.
Marco Evaristti, a Chilean artist, opened the art exhibition 'And Now You Care?' on Sunday to wake up Danish society to the brutal treatment of factory-farmed pigs in the country. He said the pigs were stolen in just four minutes, while the maintenance crew was away, The NY Post reported.
He added that the piglets were stolen with the help of his friend, Casper Steffensen.
Mr Steffensen decided to act after his daughter, 10, pleaded with him to save the starving pigs from the exhibition.
So, with the help of the Organization Against the Suffering of Animals (OASA), he helped rescue piglets from Mr Evaristti.
Mr Evaristti said he called up the police on Saturday to report the theft and following that, he had to shut down the entire exhibition. He said, "I was very disappointed when Caspar told me on Tuesday that he was involved in the theft."
"I got a lot of hate messages from around the world; I think people don't get that my art is about animal rights," Mr Evaristti said.
He added, "But after thinking about it for a few hours, I realized that at least this way, the piglets would have a chance at a happy life."
Mr Evaristti claimed that he was already working on ideas to bring the exhibition back. He said one idea was to take dead piglets from slaughterhouses and display them to the general population. He also intended to purchase three more piglets, promising them a good life at auction rather than letting them starve.
Denmark is one of the world's major pork exporters and more than 27,000 piglets die per day in pig barns. So, to raise awareness, Mr Evaristti built a cage out of hay and shopping carts and trapped three piglets inside it, specifically so they would starve to death.
