Kaley Cuoco is opening up on the “excruciating” reason she had to rehome her beloved dog Shirley. In an Instagram reel shared Sunday, the Big Bang Theory star recalled being forced to send away her pet, who recently died of cancer, due to her aggressive behaviour with her fiance Tom Pelphrey's dog.
Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco reveals why she had to rehome her beloved dog Shirley
In the emotional clip, Cuoco explained why she suddenly stopped sharing videos and photos of her “special” dog online. “Most of you know I had [Shirley] for many, many, many years,” the 38-year-old said.
“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 6 weeks old,” she added.
The Flight Attendant actress revealed that after Pelphrey, with whom she shares her 19-month-old daughter Matilda, moved in, her late dog started fighting with his dog. “Long story short, she’s a very special dog to me, as you all know,” Cuoco said of Shirley.
“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,” the Charmed actress added.
She went on to say that the situation became worse over time, and there came a point when Shirley was “determined to kill” Blue. While she loved people, Shirley could not behave herself around other dogs, Cuoco said, adding that she made the difficult decision to rehome her because of “how she was behaving.”
“I loved her so much, but I was really scared,” the Based on a True Story star explained. “I didn’t want something really bad to happen, or possibly a person accidentally be there and get hurt,” Cuoco continued before revealing that her pet handler Tony and his wife Angie offered to help care for Shirley a couple of years ago.
The couple have “had her ever since,” she added. “They have loved her so so much, and it was an excruciating decision.” A teary-eyed Cuoco then shared the news of Shirley's death following an “aggressive” form of bone cancer that “came on very quickly.”
“She was almost 14 years old, which is an unbelievable life for a dog,” she continued while crying, adding, “And I just wanted to share her story and what we had to do.” The 8 Simple Rules star captioned the video, “In honor of my Shirley.”
