Wednesday June 4, 2008, 4:59 pm
received countless emails alerting us to a heartbreaking story of a dog in Nicaragua. An emaciated, starving dog has been taken from the streets and tethered to the corner of a local art gallery. The pitiful sight is showcased in an exhibition that includes messages on the gallery walls written with dog food. Signs displayed in the gallery state the dog will not be fed. No sooner does the local media highlight the plight of the little dog, named Nativity, the artist, Guillermo Habacuc Vargas, and the gallery owner are internationally condemned.

Adding insult to injury, a prestigious visual arts foundation decides the installation is worthy of merit and Vargas is selected to represent Costa Rica at an exhibition in Honduras later this year. Fearing that Vargas will replicate the same exhibition an online petition is launched demanding that Vargas not be allowed to exhibit. Nearly 3.5 million people have since signed the petition (2 versions) however this is where the issue gets clouded with speculation. It has since emerged that it was a stunt to show how a starving dog suddenly becomes the centre of attention in a gallery, but not on the street. According to the artist, the work was intended to expose people for what they really are - ”hypocritical sheep.“ Vargas said that in order for the work to be valid, he and the gallery had to give the impression that the dog was genuinely starving to death and that it had died. They have since claimed Nativity escaped while others maintain the dog died. The general opinion amongst leading animal advocacy groups is that it was a stupid yet tragic publicity stunt. Some have called it a hoax.

Some good has come from it however. The upcoming Honduras exhibition will no longer feature live animals. It has raised awareness of the plight of neglected dogs in Central America resulting in the authorities discussing animal welfare issues. We will probably never learn Nativity’s true fate but he was undeniably a sad case of human neglect. Whatever we think of Vargas he did achieve international media attention. In solidarity against animal abuse sign the petition. Out of respect for cases like Nativity, wherever he may be, get involved in helping animals in need in your area.

Anthony Terry

Wednesday June 4, 2008, 5:00 pm
I DO NOT BELIEVE VARGAS OR THE GALLERY IN ANY WAY WERE OTHER THAN COMPLICIT IN THE DEMISE OF THE DOG

Wednesday June 4, 2008, 5:04 pm
Thank you, Sophia. This story broke months ago and has outraged us all. How anyone could walk by that starving dog and NOT take action is beyond my comprehension.

Wednesday June 4, 2008, 5:34 pm
As I would like to do to him is tie him up in a corner let him be almost dead from starving then sit in front of him and have a nice vegtable meal and wipe my mouth and tell just how good it was!!!! For this inhumane person deserves the same as he gave this dog no respect. Could I do this? Huuummmm!!! one will never know. But I do hope he has many sleepless nights and see's this dog in his dreams and that it haunts him. Thank you Sophia D.

Wednesday June 4, 2008, 6:59 pm
Noted and signed. Thank you, Sophia.

Wednesday June 4, 2008, 8:02 pm
Maggi uncompassionate people...If had been I the dog would not have been there and I would have been in jail...LOL

Big Gorilly Hugs

PS....did sign....

Wednesday June 4, 2008, 9:19 pm
Noted and petition signed. Thank you for this story and your comments, Sophia. This continues to be a most interesting matter to all of us concerned about animal rights.

Wednesday June 4, 2008, 10:40 pm
Thanks Sophia. This is so disgusting

Thursday June 5, 2008, 1:12 am
Signed months ago.2488169 Total Signatures now.
Thank you Sophia.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 1:45 am
sign it
do find that the artist has a point some how...!
people talk and talk...........
he tried to get people to noticed and it worked. Dont agree with the way he did but he had guts to do so.... and is under attact ever since.
I know I couldnt do that that way,but I saw that in a vacation land too dogs poisoned starved shot at.
everything....it is sad.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 1:57 am
and see how this petition is going.....
what about china boiling cats and dogs alive,that is going that not that fast..(?)
he opend the discussion and now people are signing
I did sign an early petition about it,before I knew about his motivation behind this....
Where are all those people who signed this..??
never saw so many people on a petition,those who have signedand dont sign any others (have to get a better realitycheck)
Maybe the sign of the times,because this is a hot news item
well am gonna do some thinking about it....
Thanks for your note Sophia.It is always good to stay alert and aware.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 2:44 am
Alycia,I am very convinced that no living creature should die in order to save other lifes.What Vargas did is the meanest thing a person can do to another living creature.I remember I took a look on his personal website months ago and I can assure you he is a sick person.Same thing for all the people witnessing it at the exhibition and did nothing till the poor dog starved to death.
Vargas couldn't care less for the torture to animals that's going on around this globe.All he cares about is getting attention.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 2:55 am
well Trudi
I didnt know that but do find that people are hard and leave animals to die without a care in the world.
Saw that a lot and when I said something about it on my vacation,everybody wanted me to shot up afraid what people might think.So in my opion I dont care what people think of me,life is too short for that and dont take things too personal.Never looked at his profile so have no opinion about it...
But the boiling still goes on for cats and dogs in China.And the baerfarms..??
People should be more active about that too
I agree that no animal should die like that to save other lives,but the more I sign the more i noticed that borders are fading away and once it gets crossed people go numb(hope that is a correct spelling...)

Thursday June 5, 2008, 3:10 am
Thanks Sophia!

Thursday June 5, 2008, 3:10 am
YES AFTER THE DOG HAS DIED OR SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED THIS LOWLIFE COMES OUT WITH A BULLSHIT STORY WITH HIS GALLERY TO COVER HIS BUTT. BUT THEY CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR THE DOGS WHEREABOUTS ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HOW STUPID DO THEY THINK PEOPLE ARE? IT WAS VERY EASY TO SAVE THAT DOG. AND THAT DOG WAS UNDER THEIR CARE. AND TO TAKE AN ANIMAL AND PURPOSELY LET IT STARVE FOR THE PUBLIC IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. IF WE START TO GO DOWN THAT ROAD WE ARE IN TROUBLE. and we are already in a lot of trouble and yes people should be more active . AND KOREA IS MY BIG ISUUE I HAVE POSTED NEW IDA LINKS TO EMAIL AND I JUST RECIEVED AN EMAIL FROM IDA PLEASE CONTACT IDA AND LOOK AT MY NEWS POST ON THE HORRIFIC MURDER OF CATS AND DOGS

AND THIS PARGAGRAPH is very telling very tellin gindeed.
the GALLERY COULD HAVE ALSO TAKEN PEOPLE ON A TOUR OF HTE STREETS WHERE ANIMALS WERE HOMELESS AND CALLED THAT ART. IF THEY WERE SO ETHICALLY AND COMPASSIONATELY MOTIVATED
THE AUDACITY AND SHEER ARROGANCE OF BOTH THE GALLERY AND THIS MAN IS FRANKLY AN AFFRONTERY.
the street. According to the artist, the work was intended to expose people for what they really are - ”hypocritical sheep.“ Vargas said that in order for the work to be valid, he and the gallery had to give the impression that the dog was genuinely starving to death and that it had died. They have since claimed Nativity escaped while others maintain the dog died. The general opinion amongst leading animal advocacy groups is that it was a stupid yet tragic publicity stunt.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 3:24 am
I could never do that and dont know what hapend Glad the petition is going strong and people are aware of the torture and misthreatmend against animals.
And People are hypocritical sheeps.that is true,not all but most....
"The world is a dangerous place....
not because of those who do evil,
but because who look on and do nothing!!"
Albert Einstein
www.users.skynet.be/kola intro for Leonard Peltier.
So tell me how many people look on..?
and do nothing...??

Thursday June 5, 2008, 4:05 am
I signed several petitions about this subject and taking action in this cruel act. I think that Vargas is not an artist and the direction of exibition where he appears are guilty too.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 4:13 am
Signed much earlier...

Thursday June 5, 2008, 4:52 am
Signed

Thursday June 5, 2008, 5:06 am
Signed & noted. We have to make our fabric of activists more Tightly-knit. It says there are over 8 million people on this site, but I keep seeing the same people over & over. U can't CALL yourself an activist if YOU DO ARE NOT ACTIVELY SEEKING A SOLUTION & FIGHTING FOR WHAT IS RIGHT. wE SIT HERE & BANTER BACK & FORTH ALL DAY, BUT IF YOU REDIRECT YOUR ANGER & ANNOYANCE TO THE RIGHT TARGETS...we will accomplish soo much more. If all 8 million on this site were TRULY serious, we COULD change alot of atrocities. Unforthunte thing is... not everyone who claims to be active really is. Don't TALK about it...BE about it!!

Thursday June 5, 2008, 5:15 am
yes danielle indeed there is not enough true activism on care and this has long been a serious issue and why many good activists left and closed down groups. and why some strong wctivists on care2 are disillusioned and have stepped back
frankly i t is disgraceful when you cehck care2 backed petitons and the paltry signatures on activist petitions. the opportunity for a large body of activism is being squandered
and it has not been easy to rally on myspace either

Thursday June 5, 2008, 5:26 am
Thank you Sophia for bring this to our attention.
I don't think I would have been able to stand by without doing anything - I'd probably be sitting in jail next to Stephanie :-)

Thursday June 5, 2008, 5:38 am
Signed earlier. This is such a despicable story as it was witnessed by so many. As no one acted this action was condoned. The gallery and the audience are all complicit in this atrocity.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 6:27 am
Having a bad moment here... remembering about this poor soul, seeing his pictures months ago, emailing the petition to everyone, and just speechless studying the picture, seeing people's legs in the background, just chatting and being f****** brainless snobs etc, while the poor creature lay there looking so sad... it really was heartbreaking, and just wanted to beam myself up to the f****** place and free the dog!!!!!!!!!!!! I´ll never understand how nobody did that!!!!!!!!! If you weren´t "allowed" to do it, I wouldn´t have given a sh**, I would have punched my way there and freed him, and if I was arrested, well so what!! It would have been news anyway, and probably would have given it more impact! Sigh... I just don´t know...

Bad moment, feeling quite low about this kind of stuff today, I´m not being as strong as I usually am... just don´t understand how come there are so many of us here who deeply, deeply care, and we´re from all corners of the globe, and yet there´s SO VERY MUCH SUFFERING?!! Sorry, going on here... sniff... really feeling low.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 6:31 am
Thanks for posting Sophia.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 6:53 am
The people who allowed this "exhibition" to be staged, the people who supported it, the artist and the people who watched or walked by while this poor creature suffered, are each as guilty as the other in allowing it to happen. It's disgusting and makes me ashamed to call myself human.

Thursday June 5, 2008, 2:04 pm
Vargas knew what he was doing was wrong, so did the people running the gallery. All viewers are guilty as well. I hope they have the same nightmares we have. Vargas had a myspace page where he taunted and mocked the outrage of people who gave him their 2 cents worth. He laughed and said we were all responsible because we never cared about that dog. He doesn't know us, does he? He's going to find out, I think. ;]
ty Sophia

Thursday June 5, 2008, 2:50 pm
YES VARGAS KNEW AND I WISH TO HIGH HEAVEN HE WERE IN FRIONT OF ME NOW
I JUST RECEIVED THIS FROM WSPA
I JUST SENT THEM A LETTER IN RESPONSE
Thank you for contacting the WSPA regarding your concern over this act of cruelty committed by Guillermo “Habacuc” Vargas. As you may know, the artist is Costa Rican but the exhibit with the dog happened in a Nicaraguan art gallery in 2007. Vargas has been invited to exhibit at the Central American Biennial set to take place in Honduras this year, though the exhibit organizers have said that he was not invited to repeat the dog exhibit.



The news of the exhibit with the dog did not seem to get picked up by the Costa Rican press until about a month after it happened. Even then there was very little coverage and it has still not been made clear whether the dog actually died, how long it was there and why nobody did anything if it was suffering. Following this, people around the world began protesting against Vargas, and our Costa Rica office issued a statement in response to this act in October 2007.



For WSPA there is no possible justification for animals to be mistreated, whether it is for artistic purposes, or any other context. What the artist did was cruel and went against the five freedoms of animals (freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, freedom to express normal behaviour, freedom from fear and distress). For these reasons, WSPA is opposed to Vargas’ participation in this and future exhibitions, and is urging the organizers of the VIth Central American Visual Arts Biennial in Honduras to withdraw the artist’s right to exhibit.



The WSPA met with Business Owners for Art (Empresarios por el Arte), an organization co-sponsoring the Honduras Biennial. In the meeting, we expressed our position against the act. Representatives from this organization acknowledged that they are opposed to the animal cruelty for artistic purposes, but that his participation at this next exhibition could not be avoided as he is showing a different piece. In a letter sent to the WSPA on April 30th, the president of this association, Mr. Ronald Zürcher, emphasized that no use of animals in the exhibition in Honduras will be allowed.



WSPA is working and allocating resources to support the project led by a special commission within the Nicaraguan Congress, which aims to update and reform the law about the protection of animals in the country. This will enable prosecution and punishment for any mistreatment to animals in the future.



Thank you again for being in touch. I hope that I have clarified some of your questions about this situation. If you have any other questions about this or WSPA, please do not hesitate to contact us again at wspa@wspausa.org – we will be happy to help. Please also keep an eye on our website (www.wspa-usa.org) for any future updates. Additionally, we ask you to sign our petition for a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (www.animalsmatterusa.org), which will help establish a global standard of animal welfare and stop such incidents from happening in the first place.

Friday June 6, 2008, 2:02 am
Amazing how they can keep track of that these days:)

It appears as though you have already signed this petition. Each person may only sign a particular petition one time. Your signature number is 1030368. You can see your signature here.

Saturday June 7, 2008, 7:59 am
It appears as though you have already signed this petition. Each person may only sign a particular petition one time. Your signature number is 930987.

Thanks for keeping this up Sophia!!!