Rubens Barrichello, 51, was devastated by the death of one of his beloved dogs, who died after eating 11 cigarette butts.
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Speedy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, fell ill after consuming butts left by other dog owners. After the dog’s death, the former Ferrari driver posted a touching message on Instagram to pay tribute to the little dog.
“Oh my Speedy… you left too soon, buddy. I can only thank you for the joy that was our journey together. Love you forever,” the former driver posted as a caption to a carousel of photos of the dog.
Later, he posted a video to explain the cause of the dog’s death and to issue a warning. “In the building where he lived, Silvana’s building (Giaffone, Rubens’ ex-wife), he used to walk a lot, very polite, very healthy for a dog. We started noticing he was feeling bad and he always wanted to go to the same place,” he began.
“When Dudu (Barrichello, son of the former driver) went down, he saw there were many cigarette butts and also another, much stronger cigarette. And then what happened, his stomach tore open, he developed a disease that no longer produced protein for the body. 11 butts were taken out of him. And then he couldn’t eat anymore,” continued the former driver.
“As I said at the beginning, it’s sad, very very sad. It’s not about the butt itself, it’s about the garbage. Garbage belongs in the trash, that’s it. We pick up the dog poop, put it in a bag to take away, so I think it would also be polite if people who have such behaviors could have such attitudes too,” he added.
