Peeing Pug Statue Installed At Foot Of Wall Street's 'Fearless Girl' — Then Quickly Removed

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — A local artist displeased with Fearless Girl, Wall Street's newest statue and an overnight internet celebrity, decided to visualize his distaste for the bronze little girl by giving her a rude companion: A small, paper mache pug peeing on the girl's ankles.

The guerrilla art was installed on Monday and removed just hours later, after angry commenters online decried the "Pissing Pug," artist Alex Gardega told Gothamist. The pug is now the latest entry in the heated squabble over the Fearless Girl statue, the temporary installation who is facing off against the famous Charging Bull.

The Fearless Girl, created by artist Kristen Visbal, was put in place by the asset management company State Street Global Advisors on March 7, the eve of International Women's Day. The statue was meant to advertise a new initiative by State Street, calling for more Wall Street firms to have women in leadership. She was met with instant and nearly unanimous acclaim, before some critics questioned why a company with just 5 women on their 26-person leadership team was calling for greater gender equality from other Wall Street companies. While public officials like Mayor Bill de Blasio and public advocate Tish James have applauded the statue, others have labeled her as little more than creative advertising from a giant asset management company. The statue is scheduled to stay in lower Manhattan through February 2018.

The artist behind the Charging Bull, which has stood as a Financial District landmark since 1989, has also criticized the girl, saying that the statue infringes on his own copyright and places his artwork in a negative light.

Gardega said he put up the paper mache dog as a comment on the Fearless Girl's value.

"This is corporate nonsense," he told the New York Post. "It has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull."

Patch has reached out to Gardega for comment, and we'll update this post if we hear back.

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This headline has been updated.

Photo courtesy of @snow_hon/Instagram