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Artist Pleads For Return Of Beloved Dog Statue

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There's a search going on for a beloved statue taken from Uptown.

The 200-pound, concrete dog statue recently vanished from outside a local art studio and nobody knows where it's gone. But residents who live in the neighborhood and the artist who created it want it back.

The giant dog statues that artist James Simon creates in his Gist Street shop are the talk of the town.

"I created these two dogs... well, there's only one of them now. This guy here and a large wiener dog," said Simon. "Last night, somebody must have stolen the dog because it was gone when we came outside today."

Helen Perilloux lives nearby and brings her daughter Zeffy to see the dogs every day.

She was shocked to hear that somebody snatched it.

"It's a shame because the artists have put a lot into making the neighborhood pretty and filled with art, and it's ridiculous that somebody would steal something that's improving the community," said Perilloux.

Simon is just pleading for his statue to be returned.

"I'll offer a million dollar reward," he said jokingly. "The reward will [be making] a lot of people in the neighborhood happy if someone brings the dog back."

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