One of Robert F Kennedy Jr's beloved dogs has died.
The independent candidate for U.S. president was a proud dog owner with three pooches and other pets that he shares with wife and actress Cheryl Hines. The Curb Your Enthusiasm star updated fans that their 14-year-old dog, Ronan, had died.
Hines shared the news to her Instagram stories where she posted two photos of her hugging the elderly dog. "And today we had to say goodbye to our sweet Ronan. Heartbreaking," she wrote. "He's been part of the family for 14 years. The family member we all loved the most."
Newsweek contacted Kennedy's campaign team by email for comment.
Along with their canines, Kennedy and Hines also have two pet ravens that the politician tamed from the wild at their Los Angeles home, per The New York Times.
"Birds have long been a particular fascination of Mr. Kennedy's. Since his youth, he says, he has kept ravens, peacocks, crows, owls, homing pigeons and guinea fowl as pets," read the NYT article.
"He trains hawks and hunts with them; in New York, he says he used to be a licensed rehabilitator of birds, caring for injured or orphaned ones. In 2005, he published a children's book about St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, birds and the environment. Donors to his campaign have been invited to go falconing with him."
Kennedy and Hines previously had a pet emu named Toby, which has at times attacked Hines. The bird was apparently jealous of her, and she had to carry a shovel whenever she went outside to protect herself. "This emu was so aggressive," Hines said to the NYT.
However, Toby the emu was not the only badly behaved pet at Kennedy and Hines' home. Ronan, who was described as "deeply arthritic" in his old age, had previously killed several of their household pets, including an emu—not Toby—and a turtle.
Kennedy is so fond of his pets that he even keeps some of them in his office after they have died, including a stuffed turtle by the name of Carruthers. He also has a taxidermy of a Sumatran tiger, which was a gift to his late father, Robert F. Kennedy, from the former president of Indonesia, Sukarno.
Along with the loss of his dog, Kennedy also withdrew from the presidential race in Arizona on Thursday.
He and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, submitted letters announcing they were withdrawing from the 2024 contest in Arizona, per The Associated Press.
It comes amid unconfirmed reports that Kennedy would be dropping out of the presidential race entirely, but the independent candidate's team told Newsweek it had "no further details to share" beyond a media alert that he would be making a speech at 2 p.m. in Phoenix.
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