Petition started to bring back Brian on 'Family Guy'

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A controversial move by the creators of the animated sitcom Family Guy has fans taking to social media to express their disappointment.

A petition to bring back the character Brian Griffin the dog started by a Tuscaloosa fan has gained more than 44,000 signatures on change.org. Show creators killed off the dog on Sunday's episode.

"He added a witty and sophisticated element to the show," said petition creator Aaron Thompson of Brian.

The Griffin family got a replacement dog, Vinny, on Sunday night's episode, but many fans feel it's just not the same.

"The writers of family guy didn't just kill off one of their creations," Thompson said in the petition. "They killed the dog we all have come to love."

A Facebook page memorializing Brian, "R.I.P Brian Griffin from Family Guy," had more than 600,000 likes as of Tuesday afternoon.

One of the writers on Family Guy, Steve Callaghan, told E! Online that he thought killing off a character would be "a fun way to shake things up."

He said he didn't worry about backlash from fans, "only because our fans are smart enough and have been loyal to our show for long enough, to know that they can trust us. We always make choices that always work to the greatest benefit of the series."

Cox Media Group