Tattooed pigskin sells for 1 mln yuan

A tattooed pig is seen at an Art Farm in Xiaodian, a village in Beijing's Shunyi district. (Photo: China News Service)

(ECNS) -- Tattooed pigskin can sell for 700,000 yuan ($112,800) to 1,000,000 yuan at an Art Farm in Xiaodian, a village in Beijing's Shunyi district, according to CRI Online.

The farm was established about 10 years ago by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye, who has tattooed Western and traditional Chinese patterns on pigs since the 1990s.

"These pigskins are ordered by galleries and art collectors abroad," said Xia Jie, manager of the farm.

"Pigs are lowly animals without personality or spirit, and their sole value seems to be food for human beings," said Wim Delvoye.

"When they are tattooed with unique patterns, they gain their own individual spirit and name. In this way, pigs literally grow in value both in a physical and economic sense."

At the Art Farm, pigs, especially pain resistant sows, are tattooed two hours every week from the age of two or three months. China does not have any legal restrictions regarding such treatment.

Netizens have expressed mixed opinions. Some said the pigs are exquisite artworks, while others said that living creatures should not endure such pain.