Tucker, a golden retriever from Michigan (USA) who became one of the biggest canine stars on the internet, died on Wednesday (10/2) after a brief battle with lymphoma. The dog was 8 years old and was followed by more than 27 million people on social media, with 4 million alone on Instagram.
Tucker’s owner, Courtney Budzyn, revealed the animal's death in an emotional video posted on Instagram on Saturday (10/5), less than a week after sharing the cancer diagnosis. In the video, she held a box with the dog's ashes and said: "I thought that would be the last sad video I would make, but it's not... Tucker is gone."
Courtney explained that Tucker was responding very well to treatment and entering remission, but the veterinary team didn't know he had lymphoma in his intestine. Because the chemotherapy was working so well, it left an opening where the tumor was, which allowed him to contract an infection that progressed rapidly overnight.
