Neil Patrick Harris and his family are in mourning after losing one of their pets in an incident that the performer described as "the freakest of accidents."
Harris, his husband, David Burtka , and their kids Harper and Gideon , both 13, all had to say goodbye to one of their beloved dogs, a 4-year-old golden retriever named Eleanor "Ella" Menopee, who sadly passed while they were all away from home.
The How I Met Your Mother alum explained in a new post written for his weekly Wondercade newsletter that while their twins were away at summer camp, the couple took the opportunity to visit friends in New Hampshire, leaving their four dogs—including terrier mix Gidget, chihuahua-French bulldog mix Spike, and French bulldog Chunk—in the care of a very good family friend named Michael .
Unfortunately, on their first morning away, Michael found Ella's body in the front yard, with her collar caught on a tree branch; they suspect that she accidentally strangled herself while trying to get free.
"Self-strangulation? By a felled tree branch?? I’ve never heard of anything like it before in my life," Harris wrote. Ella, along with her three canine siblings, "confidently roamed the property every day," leaving the pair at a complete loss as they try to process the "pointless questions" of how it had happened and how they could have prevented it.
"Sometimes things just happen," he concluded. "And I guess the work now is to process it as authentically and effectively as possible. And then, somehow, move on."
While the newsletter came out on Wednesday, July 16, it was written several days in advance, while Gideon and Harper were still at camp. As Harris continued to muse about the tragedy, he also opened up about struggling to comfort his husband, and the uncertainty that surrounded telling his kids. "It’s a discussion that I’m dreading, but also, strangely, one I’m yearning to have. As messy as it may be, being able to process it together, as a family, will surely provide some clarity and understanding and, ideally, some strength," he said candidly.
He also explained why he chose to share the news this way, where he's typically sending out "quirky, innocuous content."
"I contemplated posting about Ella’s death on Insta media — I still may — but I really have no interest in processing the hateful, uninformed, yet inevitable comments that would ensue," he wrote. "It’s too soon."
He may be referring to the backlash the parents faced when they introduced Chunk last summer , with plenty of followers commenting things like "Adopt don’t shop 👎" and others pointing to the ethical implications of not only breeding in general, but specifically brachycephalic dogs such as pugs, bulldogs, and boxers.
Next: Neil Patrick Harris Enters His ‘Cringey Dad Era’ in Embarrassing Video With His Kids
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