This is a recent communication from PETA on the subject of the starving dog in a Latin American art gallery.
‘This is what I learned from my colleague about this very disturbing incident, which is just awful. It’s been several months since these allegations first surfaced – we looked into it at the time and we are keeping a close eye on this monster.
The “artist,” whose name is Vargas, apparently won an award for this display at a contest in Nicaragua, where there are no laws protecting stray animals like this poor dog. According to most reports, the dog was a very sick stray who was captured and put on display, and died a couple days later.
Recent reports (which we have not yet been able to verify) indicate that this may have been a hoax and that the dog was fed, watered, and released. In any case, it appears that Mujeres in en las Artes, the organization responsible for the next “show,” this one in Honduras in November 2008, will not allow any animal to be mistreated. We have one of our experienced caseworkers monitoring this case and we will step in if we determine that Vargas plans to abuse another animal. Otherwise, we have decided that any additional info on this will just give Vargas publicity, which we have reason to believe he wants regardless of whether it is good or bad.
We will keep our emailers and callers posted on developments’