A Photographic History of the Day the “Greatest Dog in the World” Disappeared

An iconic celebrity dog was kidnapped from a posh poodles-only salon in New York City in 1953. But who took him? And why?

By Ariel Wodarcyk
March 27, 2020
masterpiece
Long before Grumpy Cat and Boo took the internet by storm, there was a silver-gray toy poodle named Masterpiece. He—with the help of his mysterious Russian owner—created a true poodle-mania across the globe, making the curly-haired breed the dog to own for mid-century high society types. On his path toward becoming the most valuable and highly paid dog in the world, Masterpiece walked Paris Fashion Week, traveled to Cuba as an ambassador of goodwill and served as mascot for his owner’s poodles-only boutique in Manhattan. But that was all before he was kidnapped in May of 1953.American Kennel ClubPulaski never got over the loss of his prized poodle, and he never realized his lofty goal of making the world love the breed as much as he did. But he didn’t stop trying. Every year, Pulaski wrote a detailed account of Masterpiece’s life and travels from the poodle’s perspective. He printed up these booklets at a cost of thousands of dollars, and sent them to his posh friends for the holidays. In the final booklet, printed the year Masterpiece disappeared, Pulaski wrote, “Each year the booklets have been of a different color with the thought in mind that when Masterpiece was finally called to join the other dogs in the green pastures of their Paradise, the cover of the last booklet would be black—the traditional color of mourning. This I no longer believe I should do, for as long as his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren are living among us, Masterpiece in spirit will always be with us."

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