Kaley Cuoco Explained Why She Rehomed One Of Her Dogs
“There’s something that’s been weighing on me that I think I’m ready to share now, especially now that I run my own dog care company.”
Kaley Cuoco explained why she decided to rehome her pitbull mix Shirley.
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The Big Bang Theory alum has a lot of animals at her ranch north of LA, which has included 25 horses and a large number of dogs (at least six at times).
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“Obviously I rescue dogs, and everyone knows that about me, but I’ve really expanded to farm animals and even Thoroughbreds and horses off the track,” she said of the ranch earlier this year. “Really anything with four legs is welcome here. We don’t turn anyone away. It’s become this magical place.”
In a new Instagram reel, Kaley began, “There’s something that’s been weighing on me that I think I’m ready to share now, especially now that I run my own dog care company, Oh Norman! I think it’s important to be honest about everything animal-related.”
Kaley then turned her attention to Shirley, saying, “Most of you know I had her for many, many, many years, and all of a sudden, you stopped seeing her. I started to get a lot of questions as to where she was, because it’s very unlike me to just stop posting about a dog that I’ve had since she was six weeks old.”
However, things changed when her fiancé and father of her child, Tom Pelphrey, moved in with his German Shepherd named Blue a few years ago. “Unfortunately, Blue and Shirley started getting into some mega fights. Shirley was determined to kill him. It was very scary. She’d gotten in fights with other dogs, the only dog she didn’t get in a fight with was Norman,” she recalled, referring to her former dog and the namesake of her company.
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Noting that Shirley was more of a “people dog,” Kaley continued, “We obviously bring many dogs into our home, and I started to get really worried that she would really hurt another animal. And I needed to make a very, very difficult decision.”
Appearing emotional, the actor added, “She just could not live with us, with how she was behaving. I loved her so much, but I was really scared, and I didn’t want something really bad to happen, or possibly a person accidentally to be there and get hurt.”
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Shirley went to go live with pet handler Tony Craddock and his wife Angie, who both train and help with Kaley’s other foster and rescue dogs. “It was an excruciating decision for me. I’ve never had to — I wouldn’t say give her up, but place a dog elsewhere. I always knew I could take care of them,” she continued, stressing the importance of the “safety” of the dog.
Kaley Cuoco / Via Instagram: @kaleycuoco
“I didn’t want her to end up in a home that didn’t understand her, because she is so special, and I’ve had her for so long. So she’s been living the life out on the most beautiful farm with Tony and Angie for years.”
Thanking Tony and Angie again, she noted that Shirley had unfortunately recently died of bone cancer. Kaley added, “I thought I would be really judged for this decision and I was really afraid to talk about it, because I’m so known as keeping even the ones that can’t be kept. But this was a really serious decision that needed to be made as a family, and I think we did the right thing. I got to see her a ton. I got photos constantly. She was as happy as can be, and lived an amazing 14 years.”
