I Died Today

Submission 9,583

Overview

I Died Today refers to a photo essay which captures the last day of an elderly dog called Duke Roberts, which his owners filled with fun before he was put down.

Background

On July 8th, 2014, photographer Robyn Arouty^[1] posted a series of captioned photos on her website titled "I Died Today." The photo series featured Duke Roberts, an elderly dog, enjoy the day before he was put down. The photos feature Duke spending time with his owners and friends, hanging out in the park, going through a water park and eating hamburgers before being put down outside under a tree. Within a month the post gained over 500 comments.

Notable Developments

New Media Coverage

On July 13th, Buzzfeed^[3] published a post titled "This Story Of A Dog’s Last Day On Earth Is Beautiful And Utterly Heartbreaking" which republished the original photo essay. The following day the photos were covered by The Huffington Post^[4], which offered some backstory on the photos, explaining Duke was suffering from osteosarcoma which had caused him to lose a leg before it advanced to the point that he had to be put down. The photographer Robyn Arouty told The Huffington Post:

"We didn’t realize it at the time, of course, but Dukey’s story has created this beautiful forum for people to share stories of their beloved pets who have passed away. Photographing [and] documenting Duke that day has really empowered people to find a way to cope and ease the pain of letting a pet go by celebrating them while they are still here."

The same day the photos were covered by E!Online^[5] and ViralNova.^[6]

Duke's Life

On July 26th, 2014, Robyn published a post on her blog^[2] titled "Before Duke Died, He Lived." The essay featured stories and pictures from Duke's life which explained Duke had been saved from a shelter by a loving and understanding family willing to deal with his sometimes difficult adjustment to a multi-dog household.