Artists decry tattooing of animals

DURBAN ink artists have slammed the tattooing of animals after a social media post showing a bull terrier whose face has been tattooed reemerged on social media this week, sparking fury from animal lovers.

The artists said they had never been asked to tattoo an animal, and that Durban tattoo lovers were far more likely to want their own skin inked to celebrate their pets.

The post, which went viral in October, was posted by Emerson Damasceno, a tattoo artist in Brazil, who claimed he had tattooed his pet to protect him from cancer.

The post created a massive backlash, resulting in Damasceno deleting the pictures and then his profile.

Animal lovers vented their outrage when the pictures reappeared this week, and so did Durban tattoo artists.

Lesmeri Postma, from Electric Eye Tattoos in uMhlanga, said: “It is animal cruelty and I totally condemn it,” adding that even when it came to practising tattooing skills, grapefruit skin and pig skin were used overseas.

“Both of these mediums work, while prosthetics are also used. In South Africa, people practise on each other. Who wouldn’t want to get a free tattoo?” she said.

Postma has done many animal paw prints, and even a horse’s hoof print, while animal faces were also popular.

“I have done koi fish, many of the Big Five, panthers, dolphins and lots of birds. Owls are popular at the moment,” she said.

Ashley Welman, from Trade Mark Tattoo in Florida Road, said he received frequent requests to tattoo a favourite paw print.

“We have been asked to do all sorts of animal prints, including a baboon which was the rescue pet of a volunteer from an animal shelter,” said Welman.

Owner of Trade Mark Tattoo, Nic Lewis, said: “Pet pictures are popular on arms or ribs. A paw print does not have to be life-size, but it can compromise the detail if it’s reduced in size.

“There are generic paws such as leopard, while we get requests for a lion’s head four or five times a month.”

He added that no reputable tattoo artist would consider tattooing an animal.

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