The Tragic Death Of Lisa Vanderpump's Beloved Dog Rumpy
Lisa Vanderpump shared heartbreaking news with her fans. The former "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star posted to Instagram to reveal that her beloved golden retriever, Rumpy, died just after she and her husband, Ken Todd, got home from a trip to England. "What a lovely boy," Vanderpump captioned a photo of her posing with her sweet dog. "Rumpy passed away from cancer a few hours after we returned from London. He waited for us. We will always love him." Vanderpump's sad post received comments from fans and celebrity friends, including her onetime RHOBH co-stars Camille Grammer and Joyce Giraud.
The restaurant owner turned reality star has dealt with several tragic losses over the past year. In September, Vanderpump posted to Twitter to tell fans that two of her dogs were in failing health. "It's been a little overwhelming as my two retrievers are both sick, Avery is 13 now and struggling Rumpy is 9, cancer," she wrote. Sadly, her dog Avery died soon after her post, according to BravoTV.com.
In December 2020, Vanderpump's most "famous" dog, a Pomeranian named Giggy, also passed away, per Entertainment Tonight. Giggy had made many cameos on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and even turned up in the "Dancing with the Stars" ballroom when Vanderpump was a contestant on the ABC celebrity dance-off in 2013.
Lisa Vanderpump is an avid dog lover and she founded the Vanderpump Dogs rescue
Lisa Vanderpump is an avid dog lover and advocate. In 2016, thick in the middle of her Real Housewives run, she founded The Vanderpump Dogs Foundation and rescue sanctuary. Vanderpump also used her reality TV platform to draw attention to her fight against the annual dog meat festival in Yulin, Guangxi, China. In an interview with Time, Vanderpump revealed that she always had animals at her home — and not just dogs. "Now it's the Vanderpump Dog Foundation," she said. "We started off doing a rally to the Chinese embassy, which Bravo covered. Thank God for reality television — there's some good! ... It's really important to me, my fight against Yulin."
While she's no longer a Real Housewife, Vanderpump's love for dogs did score her a pup-themed spinoff. In 2021, she made her debut on the Peacock series, "Vanderpump Dogs." The reality show followed Vanderpump as she matched dogs from her rescue with new owners. Vanderpump told Hollywood Life that filming the dog show was very different than her tumultuous stint on the Housewives franchise. "It is a very different show in terms of the dynamics," she said, adding that "Vanderpump Dogs" was "emotional... but in a poignant way."