Losing a loved one is one of the most painful things we ever experience.
Since we love our pets like family, it hurts just as much when we have to say goodbye to them.
That’s why it was so painful for Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux knowing that he’ll soon have to say goodbye to his 10-year-old Japanese wolf-dog Mura.
Heroux held Mura for the first time when she was just 8-weeks-old.
“We looked at each other when she was in a crate. I was like, this is my little girl,” Heroux told ABC News.
Since then, the two have grown exceptionally close.
She’s been there for every step of the way of Heroux’s time in public office.
She was with him while he collected signatures for when he ran for state representative and knocked on doors with him during his mayoral campaign.
As an active community member, she accompanies Heroux when he reads to school children and stars in hometown parades.
“She is the most precious thing in the world. She is my family,” said Heroux.
“She’s a little person trapped in an animal body. We have a bond. We’re partners.”
Unfortunately, Heroux learned that Mura had an aggressive terminal blood cancer called hemangiosarcoma.
“It was heartbreaking. I picked her up and said, you’re going to die little girl and you don’t even know it,” Heroux said.
Heroux shared Mura’s diagnosis on Facebook and was met with an outpouring of love and support.
He figured if he would have a limited amount of time with his best friend that they would make the best of that time.
He decided that he would return to where Mura’s life began.
So, he planned a road trip for the two of them to Vancouver Island, Canada so that he could meet Mura’s breeder.
He decided to document their journey on Facebook.
“I shared the pictures with all of you because my girl has been part of my political life since the beginning,” Heroux explained in a Facebook post. “So many of you know her already. From collecting signatures at Stop & Shop to knocking on doors in 2012, visiting schools and senior homes, walking in parades and her coming to work with me at City Hall from time to time.”
“It wasn’t goodbye,” Heroux said. “We went for a ride. A 8,500-mile ride.”
Heroux said he was taking her on the “best ride of her life.”
The two of them stopped in places like Michigan, Chicago, Wisconsin, California and others along the way where they would stop at landmarks like Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, the Golden Gate Bridge and more.
This was Heroux first vacation in about three years. Thousands of people have been liking, commenting, and sharing on Heroux posts about he and Mura’s journey.
“It’s very sweet to have all this happen, I mean, I was just going on a road trip with my dog and now it’s blown up into something that’s more than just a memory of a road trip,” Heroux told WPRI.
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