I'm embarrassed. I mixed my activist groups. Not PETA: I meant the Humane Society (links below). They state "the dog was in a state of starvation when he was captured from the street for display in the exhibit—not unlike millions of other street dogs in developing countries. HSI has been informed that the dog spent one day in the exhibit and later escaped the gallery".
That doesn't sound like a big deal to me. Certainly nothing worth death threats and petitions
If you follow the second Humane Society link, you get to read good comments like "we should rechannel our anguish and anger about Vargas and direct our energy to combat street dog problems in the developing world."
The second link does raise the valid point that "if Vargas had taken photographs of starving street animals and called attention to the problem, then his art or documentary would not have provoked any calumny." However, I counter that by pointing out that I doubt Vargas would have continued to starve the dog had he kept it for more than a single day. There are even several news reports (of trustworthiness equally as low as those reporting the abuse) that indicate he allegedly fed the dog. Besides, pictures of uncaring people standing over a starving dog are more powerful than pictures of a starving dog (as we are experiencing ourselves in this emotionally heated debate).
So, let me summarize by re-quoting: "we should rechannel our anguish and anger about Vargas and direct our energy to combat street dog problems in the developing world."
Sorry if I'm coming off as a dick. I certainly don't want to anger my ProgPower family. This is just an emotionally charged issue, because dogs are obviously a big deal. However, I feel that your energies are misplaced on this matter. Instead of condemning this guy, why don't use a small portion of our enormous defense budget to help Costa Rica (the nation this exhibit took place in) develop a better animal control infrastructure. That's just a random idea I made up on the spot and might not be possible. However... it's just an example of a possible better outlet for your energy. Which is the main reason I posted angrily before; I just get upset when I see people stand up and take action while totally missing the goal they really want to achieve.
Sorry I assumed you didn't look it up. I guess I should have asked... do we have any sources with reputations of reliability? The only anti-Vargas sites I can find are blogs and "news" sites that are probably just copying off of each other.
Here are the Human Society links:
http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane...ound_the_world/starving_dog_as_art_42308.html.
http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2008/04/street-dog-art.html
If someone fires back at me with an article from the NY Times, Reuters, PETA, or even Al-Jazeera that counters this, I'll be the first to switch sides. I'm just saying... the best evidence I can find in 5 minutes indicates that this thread is way over the top.
