Tattoos Are For People, Not Animals

Whether you’re vegan or a die-hard meat lover, when it comes to food, what you eat is your choice. The same is to be said about whether you choose to get tattooed or not.

New York has already made it illegal to tattoo your pets, but what about the rest of the world? Take note of designer Wilm Delvoye. According toMetro in the UK, Delvoye has been making bank selling tattooed pig skins that feature iconic images of Disney princesses and high fashion brand logos. While tattooing a deceased pig skin is actually something many tattoo apprentices do in order to learn how to properly tattoo, it is something entirely different when these tattoos are carried out on live pigs.

According to Metro, Delvoye began this strange practice back in 1997 here in the United States, but quickly was told to stop due to the cruel nature of the act. Eventually he was forced to move to China in order to keep up the practice where he now has three tattoo artists ink pigs supposedly under anesthetics with various images from pop culture. Once the pigs meet their end, they are then sold for up to £50,000, which is about $74,775. Now, judging by some of these images and the crude designs on these pigs, Delvoye and his three tattooers aren’t doing much of anything for the art world, let alone helping the reputation of real tattoo artists.

If the pigs do not sell until after they are dead, why tattoo them alive? Needless to say, PETA is pretty pissed. Here at INKED we have to ask, “If you wouldn’t force a person to get a tattoo, is it okay to force an animal?” Probably not. Let us know your thoughts on this highly controversial artist!