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Juanita Bermúdez, the director of the Códice Gallery, stated that the animal was fed regularly and was only tied up for three hours on one day before it escaped.[6][7] Vargas himself refused to comment on the fate of the dog,[7][5] but noted that no one tried to free the dog, give it food, call the police, or do anything for the dog.[5] Vargas stated that the exhibit and the surrounding controversy highlight people's hypocrisy because no one cares about a dog that starves to death in the street.[5] In an interview with El Tiempo, Vargas explained that he was inspired by the death of Natividad Canda, an indigent Nicaraguan addict, who was killed by two Rottweilers in Cartago Province, Costa Rica, while being filmed by the news media in the presence of police, firefighters, and security guards.[10] Upon conducting a probe, the Humane Society of the United States was informed that the dog was in a state of starvation when it was captured and escaped after one day of captivity; however, the organization also categorically condemned "the use of live animals in exhibits such as this." [11] The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) also investigated the exhibit.[8] WSPA found the information regarding the issue to be "inconsistent" and met with sponsors of the Honduras Bienal to ensure that no animals would be abused at the 2008 exhibition in that country. [8]

Habacuc claims that he was inspired to create the exhibit by a case in which a Nicaraguan crack addict named Natividad Canda was killed by two dogs because police and firemen watching from the sidelines would not or could not intervene. Subsequent footage of the incident shown on TV generated disgust from the public. Habacuc viewed this disgust as hypocritical and therefore wanted to create a similar public reaction with his exhibition. Again, he does not clearly confirm or deny if the animal died during the display. In the interview, he rather ambiguously states that "the human eye is treacherous" and suggests that what one first believes he is seeing may turn out to be different after due reflection.