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Petition: Strapping iPads to tortoises is cruel

This Aug. 2, 2014 photo shows a tortoise with an iPad mounted on its back. A group of protesters are objecting to Aspen Art Museum officials who plan to place iPads on tortoises during an art exhibition this weekend. The stunt is planned as a part of the 24-hour public opening of the new art museum on Saturday. The debut show on the rooftop sculpture garden, put together by artist Cai Guo-Qiang, features tortoises wandering around the space with iPads attached to their shells with specially designed mounts. The iPads will be showing footage of abandoned ghost-town cabins from around the valley, images that were previously recorded with the devices while they were attached to the tortoises’ shells. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Kathryn Scott Osler) This Aug. 2, 2014 photo shows a tortoise with an iPad mounted on its back. A group of protesters are objecting to Aspen Art Museum officials who plan to place iPads on tortoises during an art exhibition this weekend. The stunt is planned as a part of the 24-hour public opening of the new art museum on Saturday. The debut show on the rooftop sculpture garden, put together by artist Cai Guo-Qiang, features tortoises wandering around the space with iPads attached to their shells with specially designed mounts. The iPads will be showing footage of abandoned ghost-town cabins from around the valley, images that were previously recorded with the devices while they were attached to the tortoises’ shells. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Kathryn Scott Osler)

By Associated Press August 6, 2014 1 min read

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) – Online petitioners are calling on the Aspen Art Museum to cancel an upcoming exhibit featuring three tortoises with iPads mounted on their backs, calling it animal abuse.

The exhibit by Cai Guo-Qiang (Tsai Gwo-Chang) called “Moving Ghost Town” and is set to open Saturday as part of the public grand opening of the town’s new $45 million museum. The African Sulcata tortoises will roam around grass on the museum’s roof deck garden. Each will have two iPads showing video of area ghost towns.

The museum is standing by the exhibit. The museum says the tortoises were rescued from a breeder and that a veterinarian is overseeing their care. It says the iPads are on mounts attached with an epoxy used to attach tracking devices to wild animals.

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