The Rock's pet puppy dies after eating poisonous mushrooms
He posts an emotional tribute
The Rock has shared the devastating news that his beloved pet French Bulldog puppy Brutus has died after eating poisonous mushrooms.
The action movie star, real name Dwayne Johnson, told his 28million Instagram followers that he and girlfriend Lauren Hashian had to make the heartbreaking decision to end Brutus’ suffering when his liver and immune system failed.
He wrote: “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.”
Dwayne ended the post with the hashtag #WishICouldveSavedYouOneMoreTime – this was reference to the fact he saved Brutus’ life earlier this month when he fell to the bottom of a swimming pool.
Talking about the moment he rescued Brutus, Dwayne wrote at the time: "He was a little delirious … took a moment, threw up all the water he swallowed and looked up at me as if to say, 'Thank God you didn't have to give me mouth to mouth!' and then ran off to play with his brother."