Three piglets have vanished from a controversial Denmark art exhibit in which they were deprived of food and water as a form of protest of mass meat production.
Since debuting last week, the Copenhagen art installation − titled “And Now You Care?” − has captured headlines after an artist caged three live piglets and let them starve. The decision was part of an effort to raise awareness of the cruelty caused by the nation’s pork industry, according to the Washington Post and The New York Times.
Chilean artist Marco Evaristti said the animals disappeared after a maintenance crew briefly exited the room to clean a toilet, the Times reported. He said that animal rights activists were around at the scene.
“After four minutes, they come out and it was no pigs,” Evaristti told the Times.
Copenhagen police have not confirmed whether the disappearance was theft though Evaristti reported it as such, according to the Post. He later learned that one of his staff had sought the help of the Organization Against the Suffering of Animals to snatch the piglets.
USA TODAY has reached out to Evaristti and Copenhagen police for comment.
Evaristti defends exhibit amid death threats
Evaristti has said he has experienced outrage and death threats against him and his family following his exhibit.
“I receive serious threats, hate letters – so my son is threatened and pictured with a garden cross on his forehead,” he wrote on Facebook.
Yet he has not wavered from his mission of showing the world the cruelty that pigs face, adding that he initially believed those on his team shared that same vision, the Washington Post reported.
“I wanted them to die,” Evaristti told the Post. “I wanted the people in Denmark to see how a piglet starves to death.”
High demand for pigs has led to a rise in both pig breeding and piglet morality, the Post reported. Denmark produces around 28 million pigs annually, according to the data from the Danish Food and Agriculture Council.
Animal rights group says disappearance was not burglary or theft
Organization Against the Suffering of Animals said in a Monday statement that the disappearance was not burglary or theft but rather an “arranged transfer” between one of Evaristti’s staff.
The colleague contacted the non-profit Saturday morning to say the pigs could be picked up that day, according to the statement.
“We quickly initiated a plan for the collection, which was completed as agreed. During the pickup, there was no burglary or theft, and Evaristti’s colleague delivered subsequent pig feed to our driver,” the group said, adding that they want to “emphasize that our purpose in this case has been to keep the animals safe.”
Evaristti has previously hosted other controversial art exhibits, including one where people could turn on a blender with a swimming goldfish inside and another where he made and served meatballs out of his own body fat with agnolotti pasta, People Magazine reported.
