Before you read on, know that everything ends well, otherwise the following tale may be too sad for your heart to handle. This tragicomedy began on Wednesday, when TV writer Franklin Hardy shared a photo of his dad digging his dog's grave as the dog watched on. Of course, it immediately shook everyone to their core.
Apparently, Hardy's father, who lives in rural Virginia, had received a phone call from the vet telling him that he needed to put down his dog, Toby. The vet said he would come to the house to administer the euthanasia himself. After receiving the news, Hardy's father and uncle went outside to dig the good boy's grave. And they actually let the pup watch them do it.
Thankfully, it turned out that Toby was totally fine. According to Hardy, "The vet came and checked the dog and said it was a false alarm." Which is, umm, kind of a big mistake to make.
But people were absolutely devastated by the entire situation, as well as the look on Toby's face as his human carved out his final resting place.
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) April 18, 2019
It's enough to make your whole world crumble.
However, once the initial shock passed, everyone remembered one very important thing. There's very little chance that Toby had a full conceptual idea of what was going on. Any sadness that he seemed to be expressing was more likely due to the fact that dogs are very emotionally attuned to their humans. And obviously, Toby's human was not in a good place at the time.
Re: letting the dog watch the grave digging, my dad: “It didn’t seem to bother him. Was a little hard on me though.”
— Franklin Hardy (@franklinhardy) April 18, 2019
Once people realized this, what started out as the Saddest Photo of All Time quickly became an opportunity to joke about what the dog was actually thinking, especially given that dogs always see the positive in everything.
Toby may very well have been appreciating the digging help.
Others joked that Toby knew what was up and now, things aren't looking so good for Hardy's dad.
And some said they did not particularly like this reboot of Pet Sematary.
Others pointed out that it's kind of crazy that photos of the incident were taken in the first place. After all, is digging your dog's grave a memory you'd really want to look back on?
Your dad: Take pictures of him looking into the grave. We’ll probably want to remember this.
— Bort (@side_sleeper) April 18, 2019
Someone else mentioned that their father dug the family dog's grave way too early, just so that he could secretly go outside and smoke cigarettes.
And other people pointed out that digging a grave for your dog is a sign that he's just as much a part of the family as anyone else, so he deserves the same burial.
City folk might think it's nuts, but I see it as a sign of love and respect. It's never an easy thing to do and I'm glad they have more time together.
— Brian Bretzman (@TheCoomer) April 18, 2019
Either way, the important thing is that Toby is doing great and, with any luck, he has many happy digging days ahead of him.
And for another touching story about the love between man and his best friend, check out This Dog’s Final Wish Is Going Viral and It’s Sure to Make You Cry.
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