Great N&O article today 9/6

Samiha Khanna gets both issues right in her article today - unchaining dogs in our community as well as the significance of temporary guerrilla art in the Duke Park traffic circle.

Go read the whole thing.

The artist who hauled a concrete dog statue to the center of a traffic circle near downtown clearly wanted an art installation with both bark and bite.

The creator remains anonymous, but the display -- a gray dog statue with heavy chains choking its neck -- has inspired residents to ask county officials to prohibit the chaining of real-life dogs.

The campaign to "Free Fido" began Aug. 25, when the statue appeared in the center of the intersection of Glendale and Markham avenues, just north of downtown in the Duke Park neighborhood, said resident Frank Hyman. He says he is "close to" the artist.

That day, Hyman appealed to residents of Duke Park to write to Durham's county commissioners, saying that if 50 residents sent letters, Hyman could perhaps persuade the artist to lift the chains and free Fido of his sad, stationary life. Tuesday night, Hyman had 42 letters from Duke Park residents and Fido's outlook was hopeful.