Sheep to the slaughter at Wellington exhibition

An exhibition in Wellington includes a 15-minute video of a sheep having its throat cut, then being skinned and disembowelled - all accompanied by electronic dance music.

Wellington SPCA fears it could encourage people to try to slaughter sheep in their back yards.

The sheep was killed in Gollans Valley, near Eastbourne, by farm manager and artist Grant Muir. The video and several paintings feature in his exhibition Investigations of a Dog, at 136 The Terrace.

Muir said he expected the video to disturb some people, especially those who had never lived on a farm. But one of the reasons he had made the "video art piece" was because many who ate meat did not know what was done to an animal.

"It's the reality of animals dying for our food consumption. And people seem to have a fairly romantic idea about death. It takes away some of the romance and with the dance music playing in the background you can't help but smile. That's an interesting emotion when you are perhaps feeling a little bit of revulsion at the same time," he said.

As a farm manager he had killed hundreds of sheep, but he didn't like it.

The sheep would have been killed even if he hadn't made the video. The meat was needed to feed his farm dogs.

Muir, who isn't a vegetarian, said the sheep was killed humanely. He explains in the video that the knife must be sharp and the cut must be quick and clean.

Wellington SPCA director Rosemary Williams, who hasn't seen the video, wasn't concerned about the sheep's welfare if it had been killed that way.

"It is a humane way to kill and is infinitely preferable to [sheep] going through disgusting transportation and horrific standing around, and maybe not having food and water 24 hours before they are killed," she said.

However, she said the SPCA was worried the video could encourage people to try slaughtering sheep at home.

"My only scare and worry is that people go in and then emulate him, but not do it with his skill. There's a lot of backyard slaughter which is done inexpertly and inhumanely."

- NZPA