--- title: Chester the 'Bucket List' Dog Succumbs to Cancer description: And breaks the internet's heart canonical: https://time.com/3954498/chester-bucket-list-dog-dies/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-11T14:06:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:22.011Z og:title: Thousands Mourn Dog Who Spent His Last Days on a ‘Bucket List’ Adventure og:description: Chester broke the Internet's heart og:url: https://time.com/3954498/chester-bucket-list-dog-dies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68a9339dea0cc741/69885a82e20a8774dba8c3f4/chester.jpg?branch=production&width=560&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 560 og:image:height: 315 og:image:alt: chester bucket list dog og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Thousands Mourn Dog Who Spent His Last Days on a ‘Bucket List’ Adventure twitter:description: Chester broke the Internet's heart twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68a9339dea0cc741/69885a82e20a8774dba8c3f4/chester.jpg?branch=production&width=560&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Thousands Mourn Dog Who Spent His Last Days on a ‘Bucket List’ Adventure > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Inside the Canine Mind [Watch (HLS stream): Inside the Canine Mind](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dTemQHb7.m3u8) (2:08)  _Published 2009-09-11. Professor Brian Hare at Duke University studies people's pet dogs to understand how canines think_  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Jul 11, 2015 2:06 PM UTC  Chester before and after he arrived at the shelter. Chester before and after he arrived at the shelter. Animal Ark Rescue  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Jul 11, 2015 2:06 PM UTC An elderly, terminally ill rescue dog who was adopted in the final moments of his life, was treated to a “bucket list” of dream doggy activities and was followed by more than 78,000 Facebook fans, has died of cancer. “I am so sad to tell everyone that my sweet baby Chester has left this world,” owner Nicole Elliott wrote on a Facebook page set up to [document](https://www.facebook.com/Chestersbucketlist) “Chester’s final journey,” including extravagant meals, days at the park and a lot of petting. “I held him until his last breath and then some,” Elliott added. “I told him it was ok to let go, and how loved he was. 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