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Dubai residents urged to sign petition against artist

Allegedly chained starving dog to gallery wall, but reports on fate of animal are inconsistent.

  • By Alice Johnson, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 April 29, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • A picture of the allegedly starving dog that was said to have been used as an art installation by Vargas.
  • Image Credit: Supplied Picture

Dubai: Dubai residents have been urged to sign a petition against an artist who allegedly displayed a starving dog in a gallery.

Guillermo Vargas Habacuc is said to have displayed the dog during a Nicaraguan showing in 2007. The controversy surrounds the choice of the artist to represent Costa Rica in the Bienal Centro-americana exhibition in Honduras this year.

A host of online petitions have been established internationally, calling for the artist to be removed from the list of exhibition participants.

The dog was allegedly chained to a wall in the gallery for three days: it is not clear whether the dog was fed during this time, or whether the dog perished.

Jackie Ratcliffe, chairperson of animal welfare charity K9 friends in Dubai, said: "Anybody who considers this art is a seriously sick and deranged person. People are prosecuted and put in jail for doing things like this. Anybody that was in the gallery should be prosecuted as well." Ratcliffe continued that a healthy dog does not visibly show ribs or hip bones.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has spoken out against the incident, in association with member society the Honduras Association for the Protection of Animals and their Environment (AHPRA).

In an online statement, Elly Hiby, WSPA's Head of Companion Animals, said: "Information regarding the treatment and fate of the dog used in the 2007 exhibition is inconsistent, but for WSPA - irrespective of the exact outcome - chaining a dog without food or water for public entertainment is reprehensible abuse."

According to WSPA, the Biennial organisers have agreed to make the AHPRA official observers of this year's exhibition and have brought in rules that prohibit the abuse of animals.

Gulf News could not independently confirm that the email was a hoax.

Attention: Worldwide notoriety

Guillermo Vargas, also known as Habacuc, is an artist from Costa Rica. He gained worldwide notoriety after allegedly starving a stray dog from Nicaragua to death as part of an art exhibition.

Pictures circulating on the internet appear to show a dog tied to the corner of a room, a large pot filled with rocks of crack cocaine and marijuana.

The petition asks people to help prevent Habacuc from representing Costa Rica in the Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008 where he reportedly plans to starve another dog to death in the name of art. The petition can be found at the following link: http://www.petitiononline.com/
13031953/petition-sign.html

- Kevin Scott, Staff Reporter

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