Puppies Are Biodegradable

Runs through July 30, F.U.E.L. Collection, 249 Arch St.,

by Mary Wilson

gallery

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When Lancaster County farmer and dog breeder Henry Stoltzfus was questioned in 2005 about the fate of his unsold dogs, his spokesman gave a very graphic answer. They would be "left to rot," he said. "They are biodegradable."

This statement provided the impetus for "Puppies Are Biodegradable," a juried multimedia art exhibition at the F.U.E.L. Collection that seeks to raise awareness about Pennsylvania's puppy mills. Paintings of favorite pets, puppy abstractions, paw prints and cages line the walls of this eclectic two-floor exhibition, while fliers, leaflets and quotes inform visitors of the continued mistreatment associated with mass-breeding practices. Some of the 35 artists seek to avoid the pet-lover's earnest lament with an edgy blend of cuteness and cruelty. (Puppy skulls and puppy angels abound.) Many take aim at the consumerist mentality of pet stores, which is where most puppy-mill dogs end up. "The One with the Waggily Tail," a darkly whimsical drawing by Daniel McCartney, depicts a child watching a puppy through a pet-store window. In the panel above it, that same pup is crammed into a factory-style puppy mill, where dogs are churned out like iPods. In "Harvest," an oil painting by Danielle Rizzolo, a line of cages obscures a pastoral farm scene, throwing a wrench in the happy farm dog stereotype.

These works range from heartfelt to disturbing, but the exhibition as a whole fails to address the most difficult question: What is it about our society that causes us to treat animals � including the cute ones � like objects for consumption?

Runs through July 30, F.U.E.L. Collection, 249 Arch St., 215-592-8400, www.fuelcollection.com.