This Little Piggy Ran Away

Whenever I see footage of animals in factory farms or at the slaughterhouse I can't help but think "Run! Run!". If only...!

In '98 two piglets in the UK, Butch and Sundance, did just that. They escaped from the back of a truck, squeezed through a fence, swam across a river and vanished into a nearby garden. The pair were on the run for a week before they were finally caught. By that time their story was on the international news and the public were so taken by these two escapees that they were rewarded by being given a home in a farm sanctuary.

So what goes through the mind of an escaped pig?

Illustrator extraordinaire, Donn Pattendon asked this question for his most recent artwork, 'Escapee'. If you've taken a stroll through the back catalogue of blogs on Unleashed, then you've probably come across some illustrations by Donn before. He won the People's Choice Award at last year's Illustrators Australia 9x5 Exhibition with a very clever take on battery hens. His entry for this year's 9x5 Exhibition is another great illustration shining the spotlight on factory farming. And the cherry on top, is that Donn has kindly offered to donate 20% on the sale of this artwork to Animals Australia!

If you live in Melbourne and want to check out the exhibition (and vote for Donn's piece for this year's People's Choice Award), then below are details. If you don't live in Melbourne, then you can check out the rest of the exhibition online by clicking here.

Illustrators Australia Annual 9x5 Exhibition
Where: Space 39, Lvl 2, 39 Collins St, Melbourne
Opening night: Friday 17th Sep 6pm, Silent Auction, drinks nibbles and a chance to purchase original illustration on 9x5 wood, prize giveaways for People's Choice Awards. Gallery open for one day only; Saturday 18th Sept 10am-4pm.

Right, so back to the question... What do you think would go through the mind of an animal escaping from a factory farm?

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