Saying goodbye to their TV best friends. While many series feature adorable pets in their episodes, a few have aired heartbreaking scenes after the animals died.
“With the season 10 finale also comes Tuesday’s last episode on Chicago Fire,” dog trainer Christine Mahaney wrote via Instagram in May 2022, announcing the death of the TV dalmatian. “It breaks my heart to share that Tuesday passed away on Sunday, May 22, due to unforeseen kidney issues. The love from you, Tuesday’s fans, over the past 4 years has been immense.”
The WhatADog founder concluded her post: “Allowing her into your homes and hearts will forever be cherished. Tuesday loved working on set and being a part of the Chicago Fire family. Her tail never stopped wagging. She truly was very special.”
While Tuesday’s last appearance on the NBC drama as the firehouse dog aired later that month, the show did not immediately announce how they would address the pup’s passing the next season.
Fuller House, which aired new episodes on Netflix between 2016 and 2020, also grieved the loss of beloved dog Cosmo in December 2019.
“We’re sad to share that the Fullers’ faithful dog Cosmo, who grew up on our set, passed away after complications from surgery. There will never be another quite like our boy. 💛 We’ll miss him forever,” a statement from the Netflix series read via Twitter at the time.
Upon the revival’s premiere, it was confirmed that the golden retriever was the great-grandson of Comet, who was the OG Tanner family dog on Full House.
“Our sweet boy Cosmo is now running around in doggy heaven,” dog lover Candace Cameron Bure, who played D.J. Tanner in both series, wrote via Instagram after learning of the pup’s passing. “I imagine he’s playing with Comet 😉 right now. Cosmo has been in Fuller House since the start and we are heartbroken that he passed away during surgery complications. You’ll be so missed love bug ❤️.”
Other shows, including Grey’s Anatomy and Marvel’s WandaVision, have made the loss of pets a central story line.
WandaVision, the Emmy-nominated Disney+ miniseries starring Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, premiered in January 2021. The series began with Wanda, who was still reeling from Vision’s Avengers: Endgame death, conjuring a fictitious town where she could live with an imagined version of Paul Bettany’s character and their twin sons, Tommy and Billy. The bewitching family were also doting puppy parents to Sparky after the boys found him roaming the Westview neighborhood. It was eventually revealed that Sparky had gotten into an accident before his death, in which Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) claimed to have found the pooch lying in her azalea bushes.
While Sparky’s disappearance became a central mystery on the show, fans were clued in after Agnes was revealed to be Salem witch Agatha Harkness.
“Who’s been messing up everything? It’s been Agatha all along,” the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days actress sang in her “Agatha All Along” theme song, which ended with a big reveal. “And I killed Sparky too!”
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Scroll below for more of TV’s saddest pet deaths through the years:
