Let me take a stab at this...in part. How do you know that the statue has a dragon imprisoned in it? What kind of energy does the statue have around/thru it? If you can communicate with the dragon, ask it why it finds itself there. Most dragons are fairly to extremely intelligent. There has to be a reason for it being in this situation. You may not want to free it...depends on the underlying story. Try a divination to see if you can discover some answers.
My dragon feeds itself. He likes sheep...he gets the meat, I get the wool. (not always...he's been known to remark on eating sheep is like getting a meal and flossing at the same time...gross.)
Once you have determined the nature of its prison you can determine its disolution.
Not much help but someone else out there would know...perhaps GeNoCyDe or one of the others? (IMG:
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