Do you know what DOG ESSENTIALS you are missing out? Find out now!
Zack Keithy, our author, is a certified veterinarian technician (UC Blue Ash) for over 6 years (contact him here). The articles written here are based on his expertise and experience, combined with a review by our expert vet reviewers including Dr M. Tarantino. Learn more about us here.
For several days, millions of people watched Simon, a 7 year old Jindo mix, journey toward the end of his life. The internet famous dog, described by his owner Isabel Klee as her “soulmate,” died the way he’d lived, surrounded by love and attention. Simon was known to his followers for staying close to Klee’s side as she fostered other dogs, often acting as a calm, steady presence for frightened animals passing through their home.
Simon’s cancer diagnosis had been shared publicly back in May 2026. After Klee announced his death on July 25, 2026, tributes poured in from followers online, many of whom reflected on how much of an impact Simon and Klee’s journey together had on their own lives. One follower said the pair’s story had moved them to start fostering dogs themselves.
Klee had actually been scheduled to speak with CNN for this story before Simon’s health took a sudden turn for the worse. She announced on social media the following day that she and her fiancé, Jacob Zerhusen, had made the decision to let Simon go. Klee, whose advocacy work made her a New York Times bestselling author for her memoir “Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About,” has used her platform for years to help get foster dogs adopted, including placing one with actress Kristin Davis and helping turn a rescue named Tiki into a social media presence of his own.
Simon’s death, and the public grieving that followed it, points to a pattern that’s become increasingly common as pet influencer accounts have grown. Pet influencers bring real joy to the people who follow them, but as one pet owner interviewed for the broader piece put it, when it comes time to share the loss, there’s an obligation that comes with the community built around the animal. “I knew I had to tell everyone, because not only is that factually the truth, but part of what makes the Instagram so great for me is we built such a great community, and people genuinely really care about my dog and me,” they said. “I knew I owed it to them to tell them.”
My thoughts: What stands out about this story isn’t really about Simon specifically, it’s about the strange new shape grief takes when a pet’s life has been lived publicly. Klee’s followers never met Simon in person, yet plenty of them are grieving a loss that feels completely real to them, and Klee had to process her own private loss while simultaneously managing a public one on someone else’s timeline. It’s easy to think of a pet influencer account as just content, but stories like this make clear there’s a real emotional infrastructure built underneath it, one that has to hold up even in the worst moments, not just the cute ones.
Source: CNN
