A heartbreaking picture gallery taken by Houston-based photographer Robin Arouty documents the activities of a black Lab named Duke on the day he was euthanized. The pooch suffered from a form of cancer, osteosarcoma, which claimed the pooch’s front right leg. Unfortunately, the disease had spread, and his owner, Jordan Roberts, had to put the animal down. Jordan wrote the captions that appear beneath each photo (from Duke’s point of view in the first person). What follows is an edited version — for the full gallery and narrative, please visit Robyn Arouty’s blog.
I Died Today. By Duke Roberts
Source: Robyn Arouty Photography Blog
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And I ate a lot of hamburgers. We had a party. -
And I laughed. -
And I thought about how much I'm going to miss it here. -
Kristen came to see me. She’s a hoot. She’s my groomer. And my buddy. -
While we were waiting for the vet to come Kristen said we were going for a walk. Then someone said, “How about a play in the water at the splash park down the street?” So off we went! -
“You know I’m going to miss you, right?" -
“And you too, right?” -
“I need you to help me watch over my family.” -
“Did you hear me? This is all I want!” -
We broke the rules today. -
I listened to the kids play off in the distance. And thought about my two babies at home. I loved protecting them. -
I relaxed today. -
I felt no pain. Even though the tumor grew so big. -
I felt the love today. -
I said goodbye to my beautiful friend Kira. She “saw” me standing over everybody before the doctor said it was time. I was excited & jumping & happy. -
Well, I didn’t say goodbye. I said ’til we meet again. -
God, I was lucky. Our time was short. But you both gave me a second chance & we lived it up together. You love when I look at you. I’ll never stop. Always, DUKEY
