Photos: Tattooed Pigs With Disney Characters And Louis Vuitton Logos Sold For £50,000

This unusual mixture of tattoos includes Disney characters, patterns found on Russian prison inmates and even a Louis Vuitton logo.

But what makes them even more strange is that they have been decorated onto live pigs while they are anaesthetised.

Wim Delvoye began tattooing live pigs in 1997 in the US, before doing it in China from 2004 to 2008, where animal welfare laws are more lax. 

Creation: The unusual mixture of tattoos includes Disney princesses, patterns found on Russian prison inmates and even a Louis Vuitton logo

'Spoiled': Belgiam artist Wim Delvoye moved to China in 2004 and set up an art farm tattooing his creations onto living pigs

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Drawings: Mr Delvoye kept around 20 pigs that were tattooed based on his designs by a team of Chinese experts in anaesthesia and tattooing

Characters: A worker tattooed Ariel from the Disney film The Little Mermaid onto the skin of a pig (left), which can also be seen (right)

The Belgian artist claimed the pigs were spoiled - with locals in Yang Zhen, Beijing, said to have been amazed at how well they were treated.

Up to three artists applied a tattoo simultaneously while each pig was under anaesthetic, and carers regularly moisturised the pigs' skin.

But animal rights campaigners complained that the pigs were suffering unnecessarily and being abused for improper commercial profit.

The animals' skins were sold for up to £55,000 a piece, with one canvas featuring Disney characters sold to Chanel and made into two bags. 

A People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesman said Mr Delvoye’s actions would have left the pigs ‘sore, scared and confused’. 

Art: Mr Delvoye began tattooing live pigs in 1997 in the US, before doing the same in China from 2004, where animal welfare laws are more lax

Backside: The skin of a pig in China is tattooed with Disney characters Princess Jasmine from Aladdin and Ariel from The Little Mermaid

Careful work: Up to three artists applied a tattoo simultaneously while the pig was under anaesthetic, while carers moisturised the skin

Stuffed on display: Mr Delvoye (pictured), 49, has worked on other projects including marble replicas of twisted Gothic-style towers

He told MailOnline: ‘Talented and visionary artists do not rely on cruelty to animals to get attention.

‘Pigs, cows and chickens are emotional, thinking animals who feel pain every bit as much as we do, and they value their lives.’ 

Since these photographs were taken, Mr Delvoye, 49, has worked on other projects including marble replicas of twisted Gothic-style towers.

And he even tattooed a man’s back before selling it as art - with the collector bizarrely able to keep the person’s skin when he dies.

Last year Mr Delvoye told the Wall Street Journal: ‘Art must fascinate people and doing easy things is not a good way to seek fascination.’