WHAT WENT WRONG

Officials Reveal How Gene Hackman’s Dog Died

The couple’s two other dogs were found alive and have been taken to a local pet care facility.

The partially mummified dog found dead along with actor Gene Hackman and his wife at their New Mexico home likely died of dehydration and starvation, according to the Associated Press. A report by the Santa Fe County animal control agency said it found no evidence of infectious disease, trauma, or poisoning in the dog’s severely decomposed body, with its stomach mostly empty except for small amounts of hair and bile. The Kelpie mix, named Zinna, was recovering from surgery in January. Zinna was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near the body of Hackman’s wife Betsy Arakawa. The dog was on crate rest after having surgery so was likely locked in the cage. Authorities last week revealed the Hollywood icon outlived Arakawa by a week, after she died from a severe respiratory illness transmitted from rodents to humans. Hackman, who had Alzheimer’s and is believed to have died around Feb. 18 after his pacemaker stopped working, was apparently unaware that his wife had passed. The couple’s two other dogs—Bear and Nikita—were found alive and have been taken to a local pet care facility.