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Kaley Cuoco is opening up about having to rehome her dog Shirley.
The 38-year-old Based on a True Story actress shared the story in an emotional video posted to her Instagram account on Monday, November 25. The video was simply captioned, "đŸ In honor of my Shirley đŸ @ohnorman â„ïž."
She began the video by addressing fan questions about the whereabouts of her dog, a pitbull mix named Shirley. "Most of you know I had [Shirley] for many, many, many years. All of a sudden, you kind of stopped seeing her, and I started to get a lot of questions as to where she was, because it's very unlike me to just stop posting about a dog that I've had since she was six weeks old," Cuoco said.
She explained that though Shirley was "a very special dog" to her, she became violent when Cuoco's fiancé Tom Pelphrey moved in with his dog. She and Tom also share 1-year-old daughter Matilda.
"And when the love of my life came into my life, Tom, who is also a mega dog lover, and he moved across the country with his beautiful German Shepherd, Blue, a couple years ago, unfortunately, Blue and Shirley started getting into some mega fights," said the actress, who has always been vocal about rescuing dogs, and who founded the dog supplement, treat, and toy company, Oh Norman!
Though Shirley was "such a people dog," Cuoco became concerned because it seemed like Shirley was "determined to kill" Blue, and also began fighting with their other dogs. "I loved her so much, but I was really scared. I didn't want something really bad to happen or possibly a person accidentally be there and get hurt," The Big Bang Theory alum said, getting emotional.
She said Shirley went to live with her pet handler Tony, and his wife Angie, who have helped them rescue dogs over the years. Cuoco called the decision "excruciating," and said she feared the criticism she would face over deciding to rehome Shirley. In the video, she made it clear that the elderly dog had a good life with Tony and Angie, before revealing that she had recently passed away.
"She got a very aggressive bone cancer that came on very quickly. She was almost 14 years old, which is an unbelievable life for a dog. And I just wanted to share her story and what we had to do," she said, as she fought back tears.
Comments were turned off for Cuoco's Instagram video, but fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize The Flight Attendant actress for "abandoning" her dog.
One person posted, "There's not a shot in hell I would give away my dog for any bf. Poor Shirley was never considered family; she was just a disposable animal!"
"She chose someone else over the dog she raised from 6 weeks old? F**k outta here with that," another person commented.
For her part, Cuoco said she was "devastated" by the loss, and admitted, "I was really afraid to talk about it, because I'm so known as keeping the ones who, you know, can't be kept. But this was a really... it was a serious decision that needed to be made as a family, and I think we did the right thing."
After thanking Tony and Angie for not only taking in Shirley, but for all of their help rescuing other dogs, Cuoco concluded her video, through tears, sharing, "I love her, I always will, and I promise to be extremely honest and forthcoming in the future, considering what I stand for. I want every animal saved. I will speak up and stand up for every four-legged creature."
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