A young tattoo artist in Yekaterinburg, Russia, has been getting a lot of criticism on social media after a video of him inking his pet Sphynx cat recently went viral. To make matters worse, the owner admitted that this was not the animal’s first tattoo, and probably not the last.
The owner of the hairless cat admits that he is basically forcing the animal to share his passion for tattoos. “Of course, I feel sorry for tattooing her, because it’s not something she wants,” he says in the video. But apparently the temptation to turn the Sphynx into a walking, meowing work of art is too great. Bes already sports a large tattoo on her back, featuring a woman, a deck of cards, a prison tower and a cigarette, and in this video her owner adds a star as well.
The Yekaterinburg artist said that tattoos are a bit harder to do because the cat’s skin is a bit different than a human’s, but added that he doesn’t believe the procedure is harmful for the cat. “This isn’t her first tattoo,” he says. “She just goes under and doesn’t feel a thing. She always wakes up fine from the anesthesia and behave normally after that.”
However, Elizabeth Skorynina, head of an Animal Rehabilitation Center in Russia doesn’t agree with the actions of the tattoo artist. “Any person who has a tattoo can tell you that’s it is a painful -process, and for animals it’s even more so,” she says. “Sphynx cats have very sensitive skin and any irritation causes them discomfort and pain. If the tattoo artist uses muscle relaxants like xylaxine, the animal’s life is in danger. It switches off all motor functions, but the brain operates normally, so the cat feels everything! Plus, any anesthesia is dangerous, especially if used more that once a year.”
The feedback to the video on Russian social network VKontakte was almost entirely negative, with many people accusing the tattoo artist of animal cruelty.
Interestingly, this is not the first time this has happened in Russia, nor the second. They apparently have a thing for tattooing Sphynx cats. Five years ago, we wrote about Timur, a tattoo artist from Russia’s Republic of Tartastan, who also sparked outrage online after sharing photos of his tattooed Sphynx. And I also found a few photos from 2009 showing a Sphynx cat with an actual sphinx tattooed on its chest.
Why can’t people just ink themselves and just leave these poor animals alone…
