So this sculptor wanted a way to memorialize Barbaro. Wanted to do it in a way that would get people’s attention. Wanted to do it in a way that would cause a splash.

Well, success is yours, said sculptor.

Sometime in April, Daniel Edwards hopes to unveil the piece you see above in Central Park. The sculpture will have Barbaro on his back, legs kicking in the air, with the number eight (his number in the Kentucky Derby win) draped over his stomach.

And you thought Marge Schott was callous (btw, if you forgot, Barbaro broke his leg in the 2006 Preakness Stakes, and despite efforts to keep him alive, the horse suffered laminitis and was put down in January of 2007).

“We believe a memorial dedicated to the Right to Die will encourage horse owners to forego their own self-interests and act mercifully on behalf of their suffering horse,” John Leo, the co-director of the gallery announcing the sculpture, said. “If Barbaro has taught us anything, it is that horses deserve our compassion first”.

As you may expect, members of the Jackson family (Barbaro’s owner) were pretty shocked by the idea. Maybe they shouldn’t be: Edwards other works include sculptures of Brittney Spears giving birth on a bearskin rug, an interactive autopsy of Paris Hilton and a depiction of Prince Harry killed in war.

Hey Danny: What really would be wrong with the puppy chow can?