Dan Smyers’ Hospice Dog Has Died After Battling Cancer
Dan + Shay singer Dan Smyers reveals that the 16-year-old dog he and his wife adopted earlier this year has died. Despite only knowing Missy for a few months, the couple is left heartbroken.
In an Instagram message to fans, Smyers shares that Missy had terminal cancer. He and wife Abby knew their time with the pup would be short, but "it’s still never easy saying goodbye to a loved one. She was safe in our arms as she left us peacefully, and for that we are grateful."
"We held her as she left and she left peacefully and safe," Abby writes on her own Instagram page. "I know that she knew she was loved and I’m so grateful to have given her a few months of a truly charmed life. I have no regrets in our choice to adopt a hospice dog and I will cherish our time together, it was so much longer than we ever could have thought in the beginning."
The couple announced that they'd adopted the emaciated and toothless dog from Wags & Walks Rescue in Nashville on Feb. 25, and shortly after, said that the vet had given them bad news. While the singer and songwriter didn't detail what they'd learned, he assured those following him that Missy would lead the best life possible until the end.
The couple have four other dogs: Joy, Chief, Mac and Ghost. Both Smyers and his wife of four years thanked one another in their separate messages. They shared the news on Tuesday (May 12), one day ahead of their wedding anniversary.
"Missy, we love you and you’ll always hold a special place in our hearts," Smyers writes. "May all your days be sunny, and your little tail never stop wagging. And to all of you who have so kindly followed her story, thank you. Someone once said, 'dogs lives are too short. their only fault, really.' Truer words have never been spoken."