Animal lovers throughout the world are sickened and 
outraged at how Costa Rican artist, Guillermo Habacuc Vargas took a dog from the street and used it as an art exhibit, causing it to suffer and starve to death in the name of art.
I’m not going to post any of the offensive pictures, but have included a snapshot of Eurodogtraining, who alerted me to this. And here is an online petition you can sign to try and stop this sick-minded man representing his country at an art exhibition in Honduras.
Here is Eurodogtraining’s protest letter which she and other angry animal lovers are sending to the organisers of the art exhibition:
To allow Guillermo Habacuc Vargas to represent Costa Rica in Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008 will in no way benefit Costa Rica. The world is watching, and the actions of this so-called artist have brought many negative assumptions as to the humanity of the people of Costa Rica. The fact that many witnesses of this animal’s suffering did nothing, and that the organizers of this event allowed this to happen, rather than taking action to see that Guillermo Vargas be criminally charged with animal abuse, is sending the world a message that Costa Rica is a cruel, uncivilized society that has no regard for life, but enjoys viewing and contributing to the loss of life.
Each and every person who knew of and witnessed the suffering of this innocent dog is guilty of causing its unnecessary death. To let this crime go unpunished, and instead to reward Guillermo Vargas by choosing him to represent Costa Rica in Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008 is unacceptable and shameful, not only to Costa Rica but to all participants in this event.
Please pass the word on to other animal lovers.
Thanks for highlighting this Ellee. How shocking – I agree with every word you say.
Ellee, so far I’ve recorded almost 1,000,000 hits to this article (unfortunately due to the timing the server went down after it hit). Of those, more than 20,000 have at least clicked the petition.
Thanks for doing your part to help spread the word. Hopefully with the proliferation of this article, we’ll get more to put name to paper to help voice objection to what was done.
Have a great day!
Ginnie
That is appalling. Thanks to you and eurodog for alerting us.
Ginnie, I can’t believe the number of hits you have had, that is staggering. I have a lot of catching up to do. Seriously, let’s hope that all these posts will help shame the artist who obviously has no conscience.
This is so horrible I cannot believe it. I have signed the petition of course.
I posted this story originally on October 16, probably one of the first blogs in the US to pick it up – Dead Dog as Art. My site is relatively small and I’ve had 10s of thousands of hits to it and hundreds of comments.
When I posted, the petition had less than 1,500 signatures, now it has almost 220K.
It amazes me how this has gotten around, the publicity it has generated. I am quite sure the ‘artist’ had no clue what he was starting when he paid those children to capture that sick and starving dog to display as a tribute to a criminal.
He’s gotten his notoriety alright but I most sincerely doubt this was quite the type of notoriety he was aiming for!
He has brought together the dog lovers and animals lovers and all those who abhor cruelty in a fight against his kind of ‘art’.
I cannot applaud more the efforts of everyone who has worked to get this story out and around. People need to know that this kind of atrocity will not be tolerated!
I agree.. its not art. its rubbish.
Thankyou to the many people throughout the world who have posted and protested this horrific animal cruelty and abuse, in a vain attempt to “cover the crime of abuse” as art, by this artist from Costa Rica and his followers.
Let the truth of the crimes committed by this artist as this ‘madman’ who cruelly killed this dog by starvation of food and water, in the name of art, be truthfully disclosed and never forgotten.
Please sign the petition and write letters of protest world-wide.
We the People in the United States of America are very concerned about this dog nightmare.
http://animalsclubfreedom.us/
We are a sick people…
I seem to be slipping into animal ethics lately. It is a new twist for the blog but old hat for me. I’ve long felt deeply the words of the prophet, “L’enfer, c’est les autres”. Small furry critter, though, that is another story.
B…
Ellee: Is the picture of the artist? Or of the owner of Eurodogtraining who have the picture where a profile pic would normally go? Of course Damien Hirst made an exhibition out of dying butterflies. And I’ve heard of arguably more shocking things than this from artists in China and elsewhere including USA (Mexican artist).
I have also seen with my own eyes human beings considered beyond help left to die. Not by an artist or a gallery. But by an institution that had regular visitors so there is a parallel. No time to think enough to blog anything worthwhile about these things at the moment.
I still have a small hope that there is some artistic conceit for shock going on here and that Natividad is in fact alive and well in the barrio or on the artist’s luxury dog pampering farm. The way an artist could do this would be to rescue a dying dog, treat its ailments and feed it up to restored health. But show the documentation in reverse order.
It depends, how can they call this a sport?
este hombre es un impresentable y a el es el que habria que ponerle atado a una cuerda en una de sus exposiciones hasta que se muera de hambre, es tal mi indignacion que me da igual que se muera este hombre insensible y mala persona.
Now if only there was a petition for THIS kind of thing 🙁
http://www.theginblog.com/2008/03/the-war-we-all-lose-what-happens-when-the-internet-brings-us-the-unpatriotic-parts-of-the-war/
Be careful though, some of these videos are just extremely disgusting. Complete disregard for the dogs, people, and other animals in these videos 🙁
Maldito desgraciado… puto mal parido.. todo da vueltas muy pronto pagaras por lo que has hechos
desgraciado.. me das asco..
This man dares call himself an artist. He is nothing but a fraud. Everyone worth his or her salt should boycott him and spread the bad word about an extremely cruel person. A man like him is capable of the worst.
El tipo que presentan en la foto no es el “artista ” del que estan hablando
el muy cabron se llama guillermo vargas jimenez
a.k.a Habacuc y si te pones como pendejo a buscarlo en google te encuentras a cierto tipejo te convence la foto y la pones , el cabronazo tiene 33 años.
hijo de una puta madre
This is terrible, what is he going to do next?, leave a child starve to death so that we all can see with our own eyes the horror of the world we are living in?
This man is sick, Icannot beleaf it.
TO KILL A DOG IS NOT CONCEMPUAL ART
MATAR UN PERRO NO ES ARTE CONCEPTUAL
El supuesto artista ha dado mas de 3 explicaciones distintas sobre su performance. No es arte conceptual. Debes saber que quieres expresar con una acción antes de realizarla. No se puede dar excusas distintas según la crÃtica.
Tampoco es una acción transgresora, es un hecho frÃvolo y estúpido.
Si una obra de arte es ignorada, muere.
Esto no es arte, arte es construir algo bello, algo con que recrear la vista, el oido y todos los sentidos, usando nuestras manos,inteligencia, sensivilidad y poniendo en ello nuestra alma, esto es una abominacion tanto por el monstruo que lo hizo, como por los impasibles visitantes de la galeria que lo vieron sin inmutarse. hay que tener un alma muy negra y sucia para hacer esto
Menuda mierda de artista!!
fracasado que busca cualquier medio de llamar la atencion porque su “arte” es patetico
muerete ya payaso! y asi habra una alimaña menos en este mundo
cruel painful suffering is not art.
this is disgusting if any one thinks this ABUSE is art then they have a sick and twisted mind!!!!
I need to know +100% POSITIVE IF that picture – the man in hat with some sort of pass around his neck – IS Guillermo Habacuc Vargas. IF it is I plan to PLASTER IT EVERWHERE.
I am asking that everyone else does the same so that SOB will not know a moment’s peace for a long time to come.
It is time he ANSWERED for his WICKEDNESS.
Time TO STARVE the STARVING DOG ARTIST!!!
He should be tied like that poor dog and left starving in front of a writing made of Viagra : “die impotent bastard !”. Then someone should let him escape naked and trembling through a long stage, in front of a crowd o paparazzi and armed animalists.
HIJO DE PUTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! MUERTE MUERTE MUERTE!!!!! BASTARD!!!!
parola d’onore che se sto figlio di troia capita sotto le mie mani lo macino a sangue
HOLA MAL “ARTISTA” MAS VALE QUE NO PISES BUENOS AIRES PORQUE SI ME ENTERO QUE ESTAS POR ACA ARMARÉ UN ESCRACHE PARA DESTRUIRTE. SOS UN PESIMO “ARTISTA”, DE CUARTA, NO TENES CREATIVIDAD POR ESO CAES EN LOS GOLPES MAS BAJOS HUMANOS.
SI PISAS BUENOS AIRES , SE TE ARMA. SABELO.
EY, YOU, FUCKING “ARTIST”. DON´T COME TO BUENOS AIRES ARGENTINA BECAUSE YOU WILL BE IN TROUBLES…. YOU ARE A POOR ARTIST, WITHOUT CREATIVITY. YOU NEED TO MAKE THOSE THINGS ONLY TO BE FAMOUS. PUAJJJJJJJJJ
Hola Guillermo,me gustaria que te hiciesen lo mismo que al perro,tu no eres un ser humano y ademas me gustaria que todo el mundo te despreciara de como eres.Ijo de la gran puta.
Valla sinverguenza,ojala q le hierran lo mismo
MURDER
SAW 5 = guillermo locked in chains in basement with starving dogs… preferably rottweilers.
i want your head you disgusting pig
Este tipejo es un absoluto malnacido me quedarÃa corta diciendo de todo lo peor de él…pero me pregunto quién permitió que se cometiera semejante salvajada?Esta persona o personas son tan culpables como él y no hubo ningún espectador que lo impidiera??? Alguien que parara ese horror…
esto es un bestia , no me refiero al animal , si no a ese señor que se hacer llamar artista , ni siquiera merece que se le llame hombre , juro que si lo conociera en persona le harÃa lo mismo , lo ataria a una cuerda y lo dejaria morir de hambre , privandolo además de los 5 sentidos , le taparia la boca, le ataria las manos a la espalda le taparia los oidos y los ojos ,un animalito inocente, indefenso , no merece esa crueldad, pero ese bestia si , eso no es arte , el arte es pintar , escribir poesia , cmponer canciones , exponer , pero que no sea nada que atente contra los derecho de nada ni nadie , y este señor no merece vivir , enserio lo digo , ojalá esto hubiera ocurrido en españa porque lo hubiesen encarcelado.
me da asco este tio , juro que si yo hubiese presenciado a eso desato al perro y me lo llevo conmigo , aunque me persigan los de seguridad , seguro qeu tendria apoyo de mucha gente , y si no , pues igualmente lo haria , no quedaria mi conciencia tranquila si lo presenciara sin hacer nada a respecto ,yo desataria al perro y me lo llevarÃa conmigo
Comment deleted because I cannot allow death threats on my blog.
I was wondering if this men consider himself as an “artist” why don’t do that himself! I beat many people would go to see it.
No tiene nombre lo que haces, solo te recuerdo que no serás eterno que el dÃa que tu mueras morirás como un perro rabioso todo lo ve Dios.
I’ve signed the petition and there’s almost 2 milion signatures I think he should suffer the same punishment…
Habacuc Vargas never starved the dog to death, it’s only a very popular internet-myth that everybody would like to believe. How can so many people be so ignorant? Is it because of a guilty conscience that needs to be cleansed by sympathy?
Has anybody done any research at all on the subject?
This “artist” should be killed in the same or worst way than the poor animal.
How could this be possible in the world of art?
How could someone se an exhibition like this?
I really dont understand the world…
You are all wrong!!! How could you believe this story?!
“You Are What You Read”… remember!?
Search Google for “starving dog hoax” and wake up!
I do not think this artist did anything wrong, but was just trying to illustrate a point. It’s funny how so many people are complaining about this, yet not one viewer ever tried to help the dog. It is art because everyone accepted it as an art piece and everyone who saw this piece is responsible for the dogs death. Yes it is very sad, but would this issue have been brought to light if it were not for this artist to show us how it really is?
I do not think this artist did anything wrong, but was just trying to illustrate a point. It’s funny how so many people are complaining about this, yet not one viewer ever tried to help the dog. It is art because everyone accepted it as an art piece and everyone who saw this piece is responsible for the dogs death. Yes it is very sad, but would this issue have been brought to light if it were not for this artist to show us how it really is?
The Dog Would Have Died On The Streets Of Costa Rica Eventually. (Where He Is From) If You People Would Just Look Into It A Little And Realize That All He Did Was Put The Dog In One Place So People Could Actually See What Thousands Of Dogs Are Going Through Daily In ONE Country, Not The World. He Pointed It Out So That They Could Help Spay/Neuter The Strays In His Country And Get This Problem Under Control.
All You People That Are Taking This Time To Sign The Petition Should Look To See If There Is A Group Thats Trying To Take Care Of This Problem, And If There Is, Send Them A Few Dollars, Instead Of Taking The Easy Way Out And Typing Your Name On A Virtual Document That, Realistically, Isnt Going To Do Anything At All. If Theres Not, Step Away From Your Computer For A Bit And Make One If Youre That Angry.
Now If He Starts Doing This To Many Dogs, That Would Be Unnecessary, And Should Be Stopped At Once.
Dont Get Me Wrong, I Love Animals Just As Much As Anyone Else. Expecially Dogs. Ive Grown Up Around Them All My Life And Will Eventually Have A Few Myself. But If It Takes One Person, Im Not Going To Call Him An Artist Because That Wasnt Art, To Get Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Angry Just To Point Out A Major Problem In His Country, Then Its Worth It. Now Maybe People Will Actually Make A Group Or Donate To An Existing Group To Fix This.
If You Took The Time To Read This, Then I Would Like To Hear What You Thought About It. I Dont Want One Sided People Who Are Always Going To Just Sit There And Say That Its Wrong No Matter What They Are Told. If Your Opinion Differs From Mine, Thats Fine. And For People Who Have The Same Belief, Id Like To Hear From You, Too. I Probably Will never See This Site Again, So Instead Of Posting Something On Here To Me, Just Send Me A E-Mail. Skunx_Of_77@hotmail.com
I have been reading left and right, news and tidbits about the starved dog incident. Note that I am being careful tagging this event for what it really is.
I am a fine artist. If any I earned the right to be called so, by persistence through 30 years of artistic struggle. I am profoundly offended by this “effectist” gimmick. It is not only an aberration but a poor and ill fated communication tool chosen to try to send a message that got lost in the sadistic delivery.
I was quick to sign the petition, How could you not. Sadistic bastards need to be told that this is not only unacceptable; it is just wrong and there is no place in life, neither art for such – not even original – ugly act.
I read your article. And I thought: good, the more outraged people the better. But there is something I need to tell you.
I also come from a south american country and I now very well how thing could work in such countries. Just as here in America, my home and country for the last 16 years, the left hand sometimes does not know what the right hand does.
I guarantee you, the good folks of Costa Rica as as outraged as you and I are. bashing the country for the stupidity of one individual – probably handpicked by a very small unassertive group of people – is really punishing the wrong target.
Focus, my friend: Guillermo Vargas had a very bad idea, supported by very short minded people. These are the bad guys. Not the regular Juan y Juana from Costa Rica. Aim your anger at him and the croonies that made this thing happen. Those are the ones that need to be bashed, hated and make go away.
After all, most of us are outraged with what is been happening in Iraq, as is the rest of the world, and technically all us Americans are not guilty… are we?
I just cannot believe what this world has come to. People are the most selfish, greedy and cruel beings on the face of this planet. They attack each other, children and innocent animals. I know there many good people out there, but not enough of us to make a difference, it is so sad and leaves me feeling helpless. How do all these monsters get away with inducing pain on the innocent wether they be man or beast??
Maybe they are not human, they do not have a heart or feel any compassion for anything not even for their own.