Tragedy has struck the home of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. The star took to Instagram Tuesday afternoon to share the devastating news that his French Bulldog puppy, Brutus, has died.
The action star and his girlfriend, Lauren Hashian, made the difficult decision to put the pup to sleep after he became critically ill from eating a poisonous mushroom, Johnson told fans.
The ex-pro-wrestler posted a picture of himself holding the fawn-colored pooch in what looks to be the kennel area of an animal hospital. The little pooch is swaddled in a towel and his tiny paw is bandaged with an IV tube poking out.
Johnson looked wide-eyed and somber in the snapshot. In the caption, he wrote:
“Another reminder we have to live and love as greatly as we can today, because tomorrow is never guaranteed. At approximately 11:15pm last night myself and @laurenhashianofficial had to make the painful decision to end Brutus' suffering by taking him off of life support and sending his soul to pup heaven. I held his lil' paw as he was finally at peace. As all puppies and dogs do, he ate a mushroom while playing outside with his brother Hobbs. This mushroom happened to have a lethal toxicity and within hours it was rapidly destroying his liver and immune system to the point of no return. I encourage all of you out there to be mindful of mushrooms in your yards, parks or anywhere outside your dogs play. What looks innocent, can be deadly to your lil' family members. Thank you Dr. Deckelbaum and Dr. West and the incredibly caring nurses and staff at The Animal Medical Center At Cooper City. We'll always love you Brutus.. and you'll always be my lil' main man and rough housing Brute.”
It’s a heartbreaking message that accompanies a painful photo — presumably the last one that Johnson ever took with baby Brutus. But even in this darkest of times, Johnson’s inspirational outlook was clearly present.
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Though most of us never met Brutus in real life, we came to feel a special connection with the rambunctious little pup through the "Furious 7" star's social media posts.
When Johnson and Hashian acquired Brutus and another French Bulldog named Hobbs, he shared a photo of him holding the tiny tykes in his big, brawny hands.
In that pic, posted three weeks ago, Johnson revealed that he had just saved Brutus from drowning in the family’s swimming pool.
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Then, just a week later, Johnson shared a photo of Brutus at St. Francis Emergency Animal Hospital. Johnson was holding Brutus, who was again wrapped in a towel.
“First I save this lil' zombie Brutus' life from drowning in the pool, now he decides to get all sick on me and having that awesome 'north/south' action coming out of both ends of his body,” Johnson wrote. “Fun night.”
The post ended on an upbeat note: “He'll be back in no time wrestling and biting the s--- outta my hands and happily peeing on my Jordan's.”
Sadly, Brutus didn’t make it home this time. We hope that Johnson and Hashian can take comfort in knowing that they made the right decision for Brutus, who was suffering at the end.
We also hope that other dog owners will be inspired to take a look around their yard and possibly prevent a similar tragedy.