In August 2007, Costa Rican artist Guillermo Habacuc Vargas, as part of an art installment, allegedly tied up a stray dog in an exhibition hall at the Bienarte 2007 in Managua, Nicaragua, and left it without food and water for three days, after which the dog died. Animal lovers around the world expressed outrage at Vargas' actions, and have launched several online petitions condemning him and urging that he be banned from Bienarte 2008. Vargas has claimed both that the dog did not die, and that the dog would have died anyway; the Nicaraguan gallery which hosted Bienarte 2007 claims the dog ate frequently during the exhibition and escaped afterwards back into the streets.

1. Vargas named the dog "Natividad"
2. Vargas' exhibition included a wall with the words "You are what you read," spelled out in Spanish in dog kibble
3. Also in the exhibit: an incense burner burning an ounce of marijuana and a "rock" of crack cocaine
4. Vargas reportedly told onlookers not to feed the dog