Is this art or animal abuse?

This is without a doubt in my mind the most despicable act I have ever heard of. This Guillermo Habacuc Vargas is an animal abuser and deserves to be tied up himself and left to starve to death. I had a chance to check out the petitions (and while they weren't in English, I was able to understand the gist of them to sign them and tell the world what I think of this idiot) and wanted to say thanks for including them in your posting.

I am in shock and just cannot believe there are people like this in our world today who are so unbelieveably stupid and think that animal suffering is art. This is not art. It is cruel and inhumane and I hope this idiot is punished. Even worse, for someone to ask him to represent his country for this so-called "art", it makes my heart sick. This guy deserves more than just being banned. Karma's a bitch and I'm sure it will come to bite him in the ass; I only hope sooner rather than later.

I HOPE THIS IDIOT STARVES TO DEATH!!!!How can someone do something so horrible to an innocent animal and be awarded for it???!!!I don't get it!What kind of a world are we living in??

I think there is nothing artistic about this, I feel sick. The picture where all the people are standing around and that poor dog is lying on the ground makes me angry! I agree with another response you got, I had a hard time with the petitions too, but think he should be banned and put in jail.

OMG! This man is sick!  Who is he to have control over this dogs life?  The dog was better off homeless on the street.  I feel he should be banned and not allowed to display his "art".  Maybe he should tie himself up with no food, water or survival capabilities and then portray that.

I was upset but ok until I saw the pictures.Why did you have to include those?It's obvious this is a clear cut case of animal abuse and this person is a sick individual with no soul.And why the hell did the idiots around him think a starving animal is "art"?This is disgusting and will continue to disturb me all day.

I have to go hug my dogs now.

This is animal abuse without a doubt in mind. Karma's a bitch and this "artist" will get what's coming to him.

not only should he be banned but he should be put in jail

Not only is it animal abuse, but I can't understand how he won, even from an artistic standpoint. At the risk of at first sounding cruel, I understand his objective: to display the beauty and horror of the life cycle, and present it artistically. That said, even if I step completely outside of myself emotionally and set aside the pangs I feel for that poor animal, if I look at this completely objectively as an artistic effort, I still can't see why they commended him. He was rewarded for an act that took no more effort than paying another child for a chore and gluing macaroni noodles to a wall. This is the work of a sadistic child, not a developed artist. Art imitates life, it doesn't destroy it. It shows the good and the bad through creativity, not laziness and brutality. Sadly, I admit that I tried something similar to this in high school. I brought a leaf to my teacher; I tried to turn it in saying I was "displaying the beauty that nature had created." My art teacher failed me on that project.