NEW YORK (PIX11) -- The art work in front of city libraries usually isn't that controversial.
But a pair of bronze lions, in front of the Battery Park City Library on North End Avenue, has some people very angry -- not about the art but about the artist.
Sculptor Tom Otterness, is well-known in some art circles, but has a dark history. In the 1970's, in are film called "Shot dog", Otterness killed a dog, as part of the film.
He has since apologized and told PIX 11 News, "In 1977, I was a young artist having a very rough time. I had anger at myself and at the world. What I did was symbolic of how I was feeling internally and it is something I would never do today. I have struggled with my action for 30 years and continue to do so to this day. I am very sorry."
Sorry, though, isn't enough for some dog owners at an Upper West Side dog park.
"I think if he shot a dog, he should be shot," said Peter Murray, who just adopted a shelter dog a week ago, a mutt named Maggie.
The bronze lions and their cubs are being given free to the City, thanks to an anonymous donor who gave $750,000. But some dog owners say its free art that the City should not accept and sends the wrong message.
