Losing any pet is heartbreaking. When you spend so much time with an animal, and they come to rely on you for all of their needs, a strong and unbreakable bond is formed.
Unfortunately, because of the shorter lifespan of dogs compared to humans, owners will almost inevitably outlive their furry friends. It’s even possible to develop “broken heart syndrome,” as one woman famously did after the loss of her beloved Yorkie.
While legendary singer (and noted dog lover) Barbra Streisand didn’t have “broken heart syndrome” after her pup Sammie’s death, she does say that the experience was like the death of a child. In a recent interview with the Associated Press published on November 20, 2017, the music icon opened up about her longtime companion’s death.
“She was always with me; the last 14 years, she went everywhere I went,” Barbra said. “She was at every performance. It was like losing a child. It was kind of awful.”
The Oscar winner revealed that the Coton de Tulear had died via an emotional Instagram post on May 27, 2017. Alongside a photo of the two cuddling together, Barbra wrote:
“This is the last time my picture was taken with my beloved girl Samantha. May she rest in peace. We cherish every moment of the 14 years we had with her. May 2003 – May 2017.”
Barbra, who has a son with her first husband, Elliott Gould, has previously spoken about how much Sammie was like her child:
“[Sammie’s] the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. She’s like the daughter I never had. She speaks English. She understands English — I swear to God. She’ll come up to me and go ‘mmm,’ it sounds like a baby. That means she wants water,” she told The Independent in 2013.
“Or she’ll just look at me with those eyes, and then she wants a treat. She always comes with us. I would never leave her.”
Barbra is a particular lover of little white dogs and has had a string of them since her early days in Hollywood. She still frequently shares throwback photos with Sadie, the dog she had in the 1960s and 1970s, on Instagram. Most recently, the Hollywood icon added a new furry pal named Fanny to her family.
“A distant cousin to my beloved Sammie,” she captioned a photo of her new dog back in August.
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