State senator and mayoral candidate Leland Yee has launched a petition drive to convince Mayor Ed Lee and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to rescind the contract awarded to Brooklyn artist Tom Otterness.

Yee’s effort is in reaction to Friday morning’s San Francisco Examiner report that Otterness was awarded with a $750,000 art contract for the Central Subway project despite the fact he killed a dog on film in 1977 and called it art.

“It is completely unacceptable for taxpayers, especially here in San Francisco, to foot a $750,000 bill on someone who tortured a dog as part of a supposed art film,” Yee said in a statement. “I am shocked that once again the MTA has failed the public.”

jsabatini@sfexaminer.com