Is tattooing an animal inhumane, or is it art? Animal Rights lobbyists exclaim in horror as animals receive decorative tattoos from their owners, claiming that animals can’t choose whether or not to not have the tattoos done.
Identification Tattoos
Owners of rare or valuable pets have the option to tag their pets with an identification tattoo. The marking deters theft, and if the pet is found, the code can be traced back to the owner of the animal. The tattoo allows a person to know who the breeder of the animal is and the litter number that the animal came from, which authenticates the lineage of the animal.
These tattoos are performed while the animal is under anesthetic, at a young age.
This dog has a Hello Kitty tattoo on its belly, apparently for identification purposes. The dog was tattooed by its owner, while under anesthetic. The actual tattooing process wasn’t particularly cruel, but now this poor pooch must live in Hello Kitty hell, unable to lift its leg in public for fear of other dogs seeing the abominably cutesy cat face.
Tattooed Fish
Do fish have feelings? Hopes? Dreams? Would they approve of having hearts, spots and stripes tattooed onto them in garish pinks, greens and blues?
Who knows? Unless we find fish whisperers to talk to the little guys and ask them their opinion; tattooed fish will continue to be a lame fad for tasteless consumers.
Imported from Singapore and Hong Kong, these tattooed mollies are making their way into fish tanks across the globe. The actual process of the inking is unclear. Some say the fish are sucked into a clear tube and then tattooed with a laser, other say the fish are tattooed in the traditional needle and ink method.
Do fish feel pain, or are they just a vegetable that moves? The ink is only scale deep, so it is debatable whether the fish are hurt in any way.
Tattooed Fish in Pet Shop Fish Tank
Tattooed Pigs
Yet more appalled shrieks from animal lovers, as Belgian tattoo artist Vim Delvoye decorates living pigs with permanent tattoos.
Delvoye says, “I tattoo pigs because they grow fast and they are so much better to tattoo than fish. I tattoo them when they are young and I like the way the artwork stretches and distorts over time. Essentially, we invest in small tattoos and we harvest large paintings.”
See full interview here.
The pigs live a peaceful lifestyle on an art farm in China, free to roam and forage for food. Previously destined for the slaughterhouse, these pigs have a full, happy life ahead of them in return for the tattoos on their skin, which are harvested after their death. The pigs are tattooed whilst sedated, and may not even be aware of their own markings.
Animal Rights groups wish to stop unnecessary cruelty towards animals. But is it really so cruel to trade a slaughterhouse death for a few tattoos and a tranquil life on a farm?
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User Comments
Leo Reyes
On July 21, 2008 at 11:47 am
Great article on tattoos. Thanks for sharing
neelam pandey
On July 21, 2008 at 5:00 pm
wow!!! very interesting…infact very cute ones.
Andromeda
On July 21, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Haha A Louis Vuitton tattoo even. I wonder if its a tradmark violation. =)
stephljones
On July 25, 2008 at 7:46 pm
my dog has an identification tattoo…it was done at the animal shelter when we adopted her.
I do not see how an asthetic tattoo is “cruel”, or even mildly inappropriate…the hello kitty is adorable, and it makes her owner happy, fine by me!
seriously…if this is a problem for you, what would you suggest? Sending these poor animals to the pound?? I would think that an owner that would go to this trouble and expense loves their animal…and, I think my dog needs a little christmas tree…her name is Christmas Katie after all!!
Anne Lyken-Garner
On July 27, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I quite like the pictures. I won’t do it myself, but different folks…
someone
On August 12, 2008 at 6:17 am
stuppid…
the animals have pain, stuppid people they are
Melanie
On January 18, 2009 at 8:37 am
I can understand the identification tattoo, although you could just put a collar on the thing but there we are.
Tattoos for the sake of ‘art’ on an animal are disgusting however.
People have a choice, the animal does not. =/
kizichat
On July 31, 2009 at 12:57 pm
my mouth is still open, i really dont know what to say. and THANK YOU for this imput.
Monica
On November 12, 2009 at 9:00 pm
the reason it’s disgusting is a simple one…the do not have a say. Would you tattoo your infant child? Why would you have them suffer and put them through the pain? For your own selfish motivation?! That’s the whole issue with it all!
chaz
On November 30, 2009 at 9:22 pm
dogs have much more pain getting their nutz cut off when neutered you PETA freaks! tattooing your pet insures that you will be able to recover it. a dog’s skin isn’t the same as a humans and some dogs don’t even feel a thing. my Kangal dog never even noticed it except to try to lick the Vaseline off. get a life animal “lover” freaks. animals feel pain getting vaccinations too and do we NOT give them shots because they “don’t have a choice?”. I have vaccines given to my children too and they don’t have a choice. And they have FINGERPRINTS so I don’t need to tattoo them ya noobs!
monkeydoodle
On December 5, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Tattooing is mildly painful and if unconscious then it is painless. anesthesia though is risky to any animal. A local injection of novacaine might be better. Though my dog is so full of the wiggles that she would end up with scribbles.
monkeydoodle
On December 5, 2009 at 7:43 pm
In addition. What about those who have their infants ears pierced? Animal rIghts groups need to get their priorities straight. Focus on the neglected and truly cruel acts on animals. When that has been halted then we can throw a party. If the groups don’t focus nothing gets done.
cherrio
On January 27, 2010 at 5:46 pm
People that do this kind of stuff are people with out souls, they do not care what happens to their pets, and i believe that if they are going to tatto their pets, they need to tatto their genitals and see how they like it, and if they do they’re sick, so don’t even call me sick!!!
amy
On February 12, 2010 at 8:39 pm
This is very sad to see in a so called civilized society. I was just looking up tattoo ideas and came across these disgusting, degrading pictures of animal abuse. There was another site that showed dead pigs being tattoed. It’s a shame people don’t understand the harm they are causing. The fact that we are somewhat more aware than other animals means we have a responsibility to do whats right, but I don’t think people even know wrong from right anymore…..Louis Vuitton what a joke. What purpose does that serve??? wake the fuck up.
Bombshell
On February 18, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Though the picture startled me at first because I am such a pig lover, I do not see how this is inhumane. I am pretty sure those who have tattooed their pets made sure that it did not harm them because most people see their pets as children and treat them just as that. So no need to grow gray hairs over the simple act of tattooing an animal, we should stick to real cases of abuse and neglect instead of pondering over harmless acts of quirky pet owners.
~ Bombshell ♥
horselady
On February 28, 2010 at 7:04 pm
well i see the tattooing for id a better way than hot branding burning a design in so you know were it came from i know a tattoo will heal faster and is far less painful than red hot iron pushed into your skin but we can tattoo anywhere on a cow but the ears and nose a horse inner lip so for a dog or a cat getting a tattoo for id sounds like a good idea to me. the pigs i relay didn’t see a purpose for doing that? yea they get to live longer but how and why do they die? are they still slauterd? or old age? and as far as the branding goes i do freeze branding completly painless yet visible.
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