What if animals treated humans the way humans treat animals? This gallery collects illustrations by several artists who answered that question by swapping the roles. A tiger relaxes by the fire under a wall of mounted human heads, cows shop for packaged human meat, a bull stabs a matador and a fox wears a woman as a stole. The trick is simple: put a person where an animal usually is, and a familiar practice suddenly looks strange.
Role-reversal art has a long history in satire and in animal-welfare campaigns. It does not argue with statistics; it asks the viewer to imagine being on the receiving end. Some of these images are funny, some are deeply uncomfortable, and a few are graphic, with blood and wounds drawn in cartoon or painted form.
The drawings below come from different cartoonists and painters, and several carry signatures such as "Singer" and "Torro". Where an artist could be identified, they are named. Each image has a note on the real-world practice it refers to.
Farming, food and the dinner plate
Food production is the biggest way humans affect animals, so it is no surprise that many artists start there.
The cover combines two images from the series: rows of women hooked up to milking machines, and a duck hunter hidden behind a decoy. Both reverse a practice most people never see up close.
Women stand in numbered metal stalls with suction tubes attached to them, drawn in a glossy anime style. The image mirrors the layout of a modern milking parlour, where dairy cows are milked by machine several times a day.
A cow pushes a shopping trolley past a supermarket chiller labelled "MEATS", where human limbs are wrapped in plastic at $2.50 a pound. The trolley holds "Human Sauce" and beans. The cross-hatched style and signature belong to Andy Singer, an American political cartoonist from Saint Paul, Minnesota, best known for his cartoons about cars and modern life.
At a conveyor-belt sushi bar, wide-eyed fish sit at the counter while plates of tiny humans roll past. The joke works because conveyor-belt sushi, or kaiten-zushi, is such an everyday, cheerful setting.
A pig in a chef's apron carves thin slices from a human leg clamped in a ham stand. The stand is the kind used in Spain to hold a whole cured leg of jamón while it is sliced by hand.
Two lobsters stand by a pot on the stove, one holding a human baby. "I hate the way they scream when you boil them!" says one; "It's not screaming… it's just the air escaping!" replies the other, echoing a line people often repeat about cooking live lobsters.
Hunting, trophies and fishing
Several artists focus on hunting, where the reversal is easy to picture: the trophy on the wall becomes a human head.
A tiger in a wing-backed armchair reads the paper by the fire, slippers on, a glass of wine at hand. On the wall hang mounted human heads in safari hats, and the hunter himself lies flattened on the floor as a rug.
A bear sits in a red armchair with a martini, under a row of mounted human heads, including one with a feather headdress and one that looks like Santa Claus. A human skin lies spread out as a rug in front of the fire.
In a realistic painting signed "Torro", a lion stands upright with its arms folded over the body of a hunter in camouflage, his rifle lying in the dust. It reverses the classic trophy-hunting photo in which the hunter poses over the dead animal.
A duck hides in the reeds behind a wooden cut-out of a woman waving a bra, aiming a shotgun at a delighted human hunter. Real duck hunters use painted decoys to lure birds within range; here the lure is aimed at people.
A man hangs upside down by his feet from a boat while a crowd of grinning sharks gathers to look. It parodies the dockside photos anglers take with a big catch, and the wider shark trade: shark finning alone is estimated to kill tens of millions of sharks every year.
Under the sea, octopuses and fish pull drowning swimmers down so they can take selfies with them, while a shark grins in the background. It recalls news stories of beachgoers handling wild sea creatures, such as dolphins, for photos.
Entertainment: circuses, bullfights and cages
Animals used for human amusement are another favourite target.
In a circus ring, a man in a top hat balances on a small drum while a lion holds a whip and an elephant, giraffe and bear look on. Penguins watch from the stands. The scene mirrors traditional animal acts, which many countries have now restricted or banned.
Three horses ride in an open carriage, one wearing a top hat, while a man in a suit strains to pull them along a road. Carriage horses in big cities have been the subject of long campaigns over working conditions.
A bull stands on its hind legs and drives a sword down into a fallen matador, whose costume is stained with blood. The painting, signed "Torro", turns the final act of a bullfight back on the bullfighter.
A large bird sits in an armchair reading while a man in a hanging birdcage cries "Help! Help! Help!". The bird's thought, "If he is singing, it means he is happy," pokes fun at the idea that a caged songbird is a contented one.
A pigeon sits on a park bench throwing crumbs to a group of tiny men who peck at the ground. It is one of the gentlest images in the set, a light joke about feeding birds in the park.
Fur, laboratories and wildlife
The last group deals with animals killed for their skins or used in research, and with wildlife caught up in human conflict.
A white rabbit tries on a coat made of human skin while an otter holds it up and says, "This human skin coat is so fashionable!". The cute, simple drawing style makes the message land harder.
A fox walks on two legs wearing a whole woman draped round its neck as a stole, the way fox furs were once worn, with her legs dangling down. The drawing is signed "Torro" and dated 2013.
In a cross-hatched cartoon by Andy Singer, a rat and a rabbit in lab coats experiment on a man strapped to a table, while other humans stare out of cages behind them. Scientists estimate that somewhere between 50 and 100 million or more vertebrate animals are used in experiments worldwide each year; the "3Rs" principle of replacement, reduction and refinement has guided efforts to lower that number since 1959.
A rhinoceros cuts into a man's face with a chainsaw, blood pouring onto the ground. Poachers kill rhinos for their horns, which are sawn off, and the drawing turns that act around.
A dog sits in a warm room drinking from a mug, while outside in the rain a naked boy sits chained to the wall, hugging his knees. The picture reverses the sight of a dog left chained outdoors in bad weather.
A giant figure aims a magnifying glass at two panicking men, focusing the sun's rays on the ground between them. It recalls a cruel game some children play with ants on sunny days.
Why role-reversal art is so effective
Most people do not think of themselves as cruel to animals. Meat comes in packets, leather comes from shops and laboratory work happens behind closed doors. Role reversal removes that distance by asking the viewer to identify with the victim. It is the same technique satirists have used for centuries, from fables in which animals talk to political cartoons that turn the powerful into the powerless.
That does not mean every image makes a fair comparison. Raising animals for food, medical research and pest control are complicated questions, and thoughtful people come to different answers. But art like this is not trying to settle the debate. It is trying to make sure we see what we are deciding about.
What you can do
If these images made you think, small steps help: choose products with credible animal-welfare labels, avoid attractions that use wild animals for shows or selfies, and check whether cosmetics are tested on animals. Supporting local wildlife rescues and reporting neglected animals to the authorities also makes a real difference.
Sources: Illustrations by various artists, including Andy Singer and the painter who signs as "Torro"; collection via Truth Inside Of You; Wikipedia: Animal testing; Wikipedia: Shark finning.
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