Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Read the beautiful open letter written from the perspective of a dying dog to his owner

(John Pointer / Facebook)
(John Pointer / Facebook)

Benny, who was just shy of celebrating his ninth birthday, was suffering from kidney failure before he passed away on January 28.

“I wrote a story to cope with my grief,” Benny’s owner John Pointer told Fox 5.

https://www.facebook.com/JohnPointerMusic/posts/10153829008264299

“I’m stunned by how many people have shared the story. I was just trying to imagine that the second shot wasn’t an instant kill, but from his perspective was an instant cure.

“And I wanted to process it through the eyes of someone who was really loving and compassionate, but didn’t really understand sadness.”

The post, which was published through Benny’s Facebook page, has gone viral (shared more than 100,000 times and viewed by more than 20 million people) with fellow pet owners identifying with John’s grief.

24-HR heart monitor…. or 24-HR SWAT team costume!?! #makebelieve

Posted by Benny Pointer on Tuesday, 12 January 2016

“Wonderful story, I had to stop reading four times I was tearing up so much,” one user wrote.

“We went through a similar situation with my 15-year-old cat Tic-Tac and had to put him down. I really hope that this is how he felt, thank you so much for sharing.”

The goodbye letter, written from Benny’s perspective, opens with the the struggles of not being able to perform basic daily activities and bodily functions.

(Speaking as John), just in case my profile doesn't make the transition from personal to public page, I wanted to share…

Posted by Benny Pointer on Monday, 15 February 2016

“Yesterday was a weird day. I couldn’t get myself out of bed,” touching send-off starts. “The guy I live with lifted me up. I tried to get my legs under me, but they wouldn’t cooperate.

“He said, ‘Don’t worry, I gotcha, buddy,’ carried me downstairs, and out the front door.

“That was so nice of him. I needed to pee so badly, I just had to go right there where he put me down. Normally I wouldn’t, but we both decided to make an exception to the rule.”

Happy Halloween! How do you like my disguise?

Posted by Benny Pointer on Wednesday, 3 February 2016

The letter then talks about the final moments Benny shared with with “his person”, speaking about his love for owner John and his final moments with the vet.

Anyone who has lost their pet knows that the pain will never go away and Benny’s last letter to his owner captures that heartache.

Posted by Benny Pointer on Monday, 8 February 2016

In fact, some of us might also identify with John’s disclaimer on his Facebook page after reading the heartbreaking letter: “**Warning** Unless you are a robot, you will need a box of Kleenex, a non-public place, and a friend to hug in order to survive this ordeal.

“If you can’t find a friend, hug a stranger.”

Read the full post here and get those tissues out.