Chaining up a dog and forcing it to go without food and water in the name of
art is a surefire way of making yourself unpopular with animal lovers. The
furore created by Damien Hirst's pickled sheep and Tracey Emin's dirty bed pales
into insignificance against the international outrage Guillermo 'Habacuc' Vargas
has unleashed.
The Costa Rican has been called an animal abuser, killer and worse over
claims that a stray dog called Natividad died of starvation after he displayed
it at an exhibition last year at the Códice Gallery in Managua, Nicaragua.
Vargas tethered the animal without food and water under the words 'Eres Lo Que
Lees' - 'You Are What You Read' - made out of dog biscuits while he played the
Sandinista anthem backwards and set 175 pieces of crack cocaine alight in a
massive incense burner. More than a million people have signed an online
petition urging organisers of this year's event to stop Vargas taking part.
Vargas, 32, said he wanted to test the public's reaction, and insisted none
of the exhibition visitors intervened to stop the animal's suffering. He refused
to say whether the animal had survived the show, but said he had received dozens
of death threats.
Juanita Bermúdez, director of the Códice Gallery, insisted Natividad escaped
after just one day. She said: 'It was untied all the time except for the three
hours the exhibition lasted and it was fed regularly with dog food Habacuc
himself brought in.'
Natalie Dorman on 05 Dec 08slide show including info on the Holocaust
