You may know Kevin Smith as the multitalented writer-director of such movies as Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Tusk. “Loving pet owner” can also be included as one of Smith’s many titles. That is until Wednesday, when Mulder, Smith’s dog of seventeen years, wagged his tail for the last time.
Smith posted this heartbreaking photo on Instagram, showing him cradle his dying dog.
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Kevin accompanied the photo with a few touching words:
“They never tell you when you get a dog, but there is a price to pay for being the recipient of 17 years of unconditional love, loyalty and companionship: they take a huge chunk of your heart with them when they go. “
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Even in the midst of this man’s sorrow, slimy monsters from the swampy regions of the Internet tried to further kick a man who was already down. Upon receiving a barrage of comments calling him an ‘attention wh***’ for posting the pic of his beloved pooch, Smith had this to say:
“I just wanted to unload the emotional burden a little by sharing with the folks who’d enjoyed all the Mulder and Scully stories I’d told over the years. This wasn’t about look at ME – this was about look at HIM… I was in pain and I just wanted to hear from people who knew that distinct pain of losing a dog.”
Smith went on to say that he received tons of support from sympathetic pet-owners who have also loved and lost.
“It was therapeutic for me. We don’t really do wakes and funerals for our pets, so we usually miss that important step of the grieving process: grieving with others, sharing stories about the departed.”
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Hours later, Mulder passed away, with his best friend right beside him. Smith punctuates this sort-of eulogy with a soul-crushing ending, which he credits to the show Doctor Who:
“‘You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can’t spend the rest of my life with you.’ ‘Some things are worth getting your heart broken for.'”
And for Smith, “Mulder was beyond worth it.”