Porker takes to canvas for cause

Pigcasso highlights factory farm cruelty

WITH a paintbrush poised in her mouth and an easel settled on the hot concrete parking lot overlooking Camps Bay, the one-of-a-kind painting pig steadied herself to create yet another abstract expressionist masterpiece.

Blue streaks spattered everywhere as Pigcasso thrusted her head at the canvas, covering the tips of her ears and snout with paint. She would grab the paintbrush from her owner, Joanne Lefson, brush a few strokes on to the white canvas and then abruptly drop the paintbrush to nibble on a mix of peaches and caramel popcorn.

Lefson, an animal activist and founder of Farm Sanctuary SA, saved the pig from a South African slaughterhouse in May.

For the past four months, Lefson has trained the rescue pig to paint. Pigcasso has produced more than a dozen paintings and will have her first exhibition next year.

The half-ton pig first learnt football before picking up a paintbrush and discovering her passion for painting. She favours scenic settings for artistic inspiration.

Pigcasso has painted various sites on her way through Cape Town, including Table Mountain and the broken bridge on Helen Suzman Boulevard.

Loaded with a plethora of piggy treats, Lefson taught Pigcasso to paint using positive reinforcement through clicker training, a technique often used to train dogs.

While painting gives Pigcasso a good excuse to pig out on strawberries and guavas between brush strokes, the hobby is not just for pleasure, but to raise awareness of the poor living conditions of industrialised factory farms.

“The purpose of Pigcasso painting is to show her as a talented, unique individual who loves to paint and loves her life and loves to live,” said Lefson. “She reminds consumers to think a little bit differently, to eat a little bit differently and to make kinder, more compassionate choices.

“Breeding sows are confined in narrow cages for life, while their offspring are raised for pork and kept in filthy overcrowded conditions,” added Lefson. “No straw. No outdoors. No life.”

Lefson’s strong love and dedication for animals inspired her to open the Franschhoek sanctuary in October on World Farm Animals Day. It’s the only officially registered sanctuary in Africa for rescued farm animals.

Over the years, Lefson has adopted many rescue animals, stopped eating meat for the past 17 years and even married her dog Oscar – who travelled the globe with her – at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas. The dog was accidentally run over by Lefson in 2013 and could not be saved.

According to Farm Sanctuary SA’s site, pigs, cows, sheep and chickens are common farm animals subjected to abuse. A couple of maltreatment examples noted are tail docking of lambs, a process of shortening the tail with a knife or tying a rubber band around it until it falls off, and artificial impregnation of cows to produce milk.

Money raised through purchases of Pigcasso’s art – always marked with a snout