Controversial art exhibition inflicts suffering on piglets
News
World Animal Protection opposes a new exhibition in Copenhagen by artist Marco Evaristti, which involves starving three piglets as a protest against industrial pig farming.
UPDATE: The piglets have been collected by Danish animal rights group, De Glemte Danske, and the exhibition has since been closed as of the evening of 04/03/2025.
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Evaristti, known for past controversial works involving live animals, claims his exhibition "And Now You Care" is designed to highlight the 28,000 piglets that die daily due to poor breeding conditions in Danish pig farming.
As part of the exhibit, the piglets are confined in a cage made from shopping carts and will not be provided with food or water.
Visitors are given the option to use a captive bolt gun to end the piglets' suffering, and Evaristti has pledged to feed them only if an associated Instagram group reaches 22,000 members pledging to boycott conventionally farmed pork.
World Animal Protection Denmark has strongly criticised this approach, stating that while industrial pig farming practices deserve urgent scrutiny, deliberately inflicting suffering on animals to make a point is unacceptable and a clear violation of the Danish Animal Welfare Act.
Gitte Buchhave, Country Director of World Animal Protection Denmark, said:
We understand Marco Evaristti’s intentions with his exhibition, but it is not acceptable to protest one form of animal cruelty by committing another.
"We have long criticised the conditions in Danish pig farming and will continue to do so, but this is not the way to create change."
While raising awareness of the suffering animals face in factory farms is crucial, causing further harm to animals is both unethical and unnecessary.
World Animal Protection continues to advocate for meaningful improvements in pig farming that prioritise animal welfare.
Protecting pig welfare without harm
We continue to urge individuals and businesses to support humane farming practices that respect the lives of pigs and other sentient animals.
Education, legislative action, and consumer choices that promote higher welfare farming are all ways to tackle the needless suffering millions of farmed animals endure on a daily basis.
Investment banks also have a critical role to play by stopping the funding of factory farming, which drives large-scale animal suffering.
We have seen successes of national banks cutting investments with industrial agriculture, proving the collective power of the public can redirect financial support towards humane, sustainable farming practices.
Pigs are intelligent, sensitive animals. This exhibition adds to the problem rather than contributing to a real solution; creating a stressful and unnatural situation for these piglets to be in, without knowing if they will be saved or left to starve.
Instead of using harmful stunts, effective advocacy can drive real change through policy reforms, consumer awareness, and support for ethical farming systems.
