Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and family have put down Lady, the golden retriever they took in 10 years ago, when O’Malley was mayor of Baltimore.
Lady, who had been on medication for the past three years for a bad hip, was recently diagnosed with cancer, at 13.
The governor took the dog to a vet last month, after she became unable to climb the stairs to the bedroom, where she commonly slept on the floor on the governor’s side of the bed.
He shared the diagnosis with his wife, District Court Judge Katie O’Malley, who was at a conference in Russia.
They discussed waiting until the first lady’s return five days later but decided against that. Lady was put down the following day, May 14.
“It would have been unfair to Lady,” Katie O’Malley told the Baltimore Sun.“ Martin had to go all by himself and hold her in his arms while she went to sleep. It was very, very sad for the kids.”
Lady, whose image graced state highway maps and the governor’s Christmas cards, was taken in by the O’Malley family ten years ago when her owner, a friend of a friend, had to giver her up due to health problems.
But the governor’s mansion is still home to Rex, a cocker spaniel; Winston, a Yorkshire terrier-poodle mix; and two cats.