Bordalo II’s Trash Puppy and Trash Kitten: Art Against Pet Abandonment
Portuguese artist Bordalo II turned his Big Trash Animals towards a particularly emotive subject with Trash Puppy and Trash Kitten. Bordalo II’s pet abandonment art uses discarded materials to create large-scale domestic animals, confronting the consequences of treating pets as disposable and drawing attention to animal welfare and responsible ownership.
Bordalo II, Trash Kitten, Lisbon. Image copyright Bordalo II.
The works extend the central idea behind Bordalo II’s Big Trash Animals, in which waste becomes both material and message. Across the wider series, animals are recreated from discarded objects associated with excessive production and consumption, creating a direct relationship between what society throws away and the living world affected by those choices.
“I can´t understand how someone can go on holiday at peace with himself when he has abandoned a son”.
Bordalo II
Bordalo II’s Big Trash Puppy
Trash Puppy transforms abandoned material into the form of an animal normally associated with companionship, loyalty and home. That contrast gives the sculpture its emotional force: an animal that should be cared for is physically constructed from objects society has already discarded.
Bordalo II, Trash Puppy, Lisbon. Image copyright Bordalo II.
Bordalo II’s Big Trash Kitten
Bordalo II continued the idea with Trash Kitten, again using waste found in an abandoned area of Lisbon. Together, the puppy and kitten turn the language of the Big Trash Animals towards domestic animals, asking viewers to consider the responsibilities that begin when an animal becomes part of a household.
Bordalo II, Trash Kitten, Lisbon. Image copyright Bordalo II.
Why Bordalo II’s Pet Abandonment Message Matters
In August 2015, pet abandonment was already a serious concern for animal welfare organisations. RSPCA figures later showed that the charity rescued 2,751 abandoned animals across England and Wales during 2015, with abandonments peaking in July during the summer period. The figures gave painful context to Bordalo II’s Trash Puppy and Trash Kitten, created that same year to confront the idea of treating animals as disposable.
Bordalo II’s sculptures approach that issue through a simple but memorable visual contradiction. A pet should never become another disposable object. By building a puppy and kitten from rubbish, he makes that idea physically impossible to overlook.
For more on how waste, wildlife and social responsibility intersect throughout the artist’s practice, explore GraffitiStreet’s Bordalo II Big Trash Animals guide and our earlier feature Waste Not, Want Not.
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Discover available Bordalo II artworks at GraffitiStreet, contact us to discuss acquisitions and private viewings, or visit GraffitiStreet Gallery, 25A West Street, Chichester, West Sussex, England PO19 1QW.
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