I Died Today. By Duke Roberts
And I ate a lot of hamburgers. We had a party.
Houston-based commercial and portrait photographer Robyn Arouty recently created a touching photo series documenting the last day of a dog’s life.
Titled ‘I Died Today’, it follows the last hours of a black labrador named Dukey that belonged to her friend Jordan.
According to this blog post by Arouty, Dukey was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, shortly after Jordan’s daughter’s first birthday. After having surgery to remove his leg and undergoing chemotherapy, he was pronounced clear of the disease.
However tragedy struck again—Dukey’s amputated shoulder became swollen and the diagnosis this time was hemangiosarcoma, a type of cancer that occurs frequently in dogs.
The tumor grew rapidly and started to separate his ribs, causing him pain at night. Faced with the prospect of watching him suffer more, Jordan and her family came to the painful decision to put him down.
Arouty, who is a animal rescuer and advocate, said she was initially present to offer moral support and happened to bring her camera along.
The photographs are accompanied by simple, candid captions that imagine Dukey’s thoughts as family members and friends surround him.
A beautiful tribute to a beloved family pet, they are a reminder of the love and joy he brought to their lives, and will resonate with anyone who has ever had to deal with the pain of a pet’s death.
View the entire photo essay here and read more about Dukey here.
We told jokes.
“You know I’m going to miss you, right?”
We felt grateful today.
I listened to the kids play off in the distance. And thought about my two babies at home. I loved protecting them.
I felt no pain. Even though the tumor grew so big.
I felt the love today.
God, I was lucky. Our time was short. But you both gave me a second chance & we lived it up together. You love it when I look at you. I’ll never stop.
Always,
Dukey
[via PetaPixel, images via Robyn Arouty]
And I ate a lot of hamburgers. We had a party.
Houston-based commercial and portrait photographer Robyn Arouty recently created a touching photo series documenting the last day of a dog’s life.
Titled ‘I Died Today’, it follows the last hours of a black labrador named Dukey that belonged to her friend Jordan.
According to this blog post by Arouty, Dukey was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, shortly after Jordan’s daughter’s first birthday. After having surgery to remove his leg and undergoing chemotherapy, he was pronounced clear of the disease.
However tragedy struck again—Dukey’s amputated shoulder became swollen and the diagnosis this time was hemangiosarcoma, a type of cancer that occurs frequently in dogs.
The tumor grew rapidly and started to separate his ribs, causing him pain at night. Faced with the prospect of watching him suffer more, Jordan and her family came to the painful decision to put him down.
Arouty, who is a animal rescuer and advocate, said she was initially present to offer moral support and happened to bring her camera along.
The photographs are accompanied by simple, candid captions that imagine Dukey’s thoughts as family members and friends surround him.
A beautiful tribute to a beloved family pet, they are a reminder of the love and joy he brought to their lives, and will resonate with anyone who has ever had to deal with the pain of a pet’s death.
View the entire photo essay here and read more about Dukey here.
We told jokes.
“You know I’m going to miss you, right?”
We felt grateful today.
I listened to the kids play off in the distance. And thought about my two babies at home. I loved protecting them.
I felt no pain. Even though the tumor grew so big.
I felt the love today.
God, I was lucky. Our time was short. But you both gave me a second chance & we lived it up together. You love it when I look at you. I’ll never stop.
Always,
Dukey
[via PetaPixel, images via Robyn Arouty]